Rep. Banks Statement on Biden DOD Excuse for Labeling Pro-Life Orgs ‘Terrorists’

Today, after the Army responded to Chairman of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Jim Banks and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Roger's letter regarding leaked "anti-terror" training given to soldiers at Fort Liberty that described pro-life organizations like National Right to Life as "terrorist groups," Rep. Banks released the below statement. Read the Army's response here, a summary of its investigation here and Rep. Banks and Chairman Roger's original letter here.

Said Rep. Banks:"The DOD taught nearly ten thousand soldiers stationed at Fort Liberty that pro-life organizations, like the National Right to Life, are dangerous terrorist groups. It's downright ridiculous to claim the slide deck doesn't 'further a personal viewpoint,' but there have been no consequences for the employee who ran anti-life training sessions at Fort Liberty that clearly violated Army policy. The Biden-Harris DOD won't back off its efforts to politicize our military. Until that changes, I will keep pushing the DOD to reject far-left politics and focus on fighting and winning wars, including at next week's hearing."

Said Mike Fichter, President of Indiana Right to Life: "It is stunning to learn of the U.S. Army's admission that pro-life groups have been identified as terrorist organizations in presentations at Ft. Liberty going back to 2017. How could something like this have continued without any red flags or corrective actions? After seven years of malicious misrepresentation of pro-life organizations, it appears no one will receive even the slightest reprimand for such an outrageous affront to the pro-life community. It is easy to surmise the Army's response is a reflection of the Biden administration's ongoing politicizing of the U.S. military.""

Army Letter Takeaways

• Approximately 9,100 soldiers were trained using this presentation between 2017 and early July 2024, when the photos of the training went viral. An initial Army response said the training had only been shown to 47 soldiers at Fort Liberty, but that they would conduct an investigation to gather additional information.
• The Army's letter claims that: "The slides were not reviewed or approved at any level of Fort Liberty [Department of Emergency Services] leadership."
• The Army's letter dubiously claims that: "There is no evidence indicating the individual who developed and presented the training attempted to deliberately subvert DOD or Army policy, nor any evidence to suggest the individual attempted to further a personal viewpoint through the presentation.
• The Army says it has "publicly disavowed" the training and claims that it's establishing a process to review locally-created training materials to ensure they comply with national DOD guidance.
• The slide deck was created in 2011 by a local base employee and was apparently not used until 2017.

This upcoming Thursday, July 19^th, Chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee Jim Banks will host a hearing on the Army's recently adopted extremism policies.

The Army issued an expansive directive addressing extremism in June 2024, even though the Department of Defense has found that "extremism" is less common among active duty servicemembers than the general population.

Secretary Austin has ignored a requirement in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act to report to Congress on the cost of "extremism training."

Rep. Banks' previously criticized the Navy for including a far-left, extremist book on its recommended reading list.

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