Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has been the driving force behind small, fringe and leftist movements to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and police departments across the country. When the New York City Council voted to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget, she said it wasn't enough.
"Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools,” she released in a statement. "These proposed ‘cuts’ to the NYPD budget are a disingenuous illusion. This is not a victory. The fight to defund policing continues.”
Now, she's calling for all military recruitment efforts in schools to be stripped of funding. From The Hill:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has introduced a pair of amendments to a defense appropriations bill that would bar the military from using funding to maintain a recruiting presence in U.S. schools or on digital streaming platforms such as Twitch.
In a statement to The New York Times, the first-term lawmaker explained that the amendments are intended to curb a trend of military recruiters targeting low-income students.
“Whether through recruitment stations in their lunchrooms, or now through e-sports teams, children in low-income communities are persistently targeted for enlistment,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“In many public high schools where military recruiters have a daily presence, there is not even a counselor,” she continued. “As a result, the military stops feeling like a ‘choice’ and starts feeling like the only option for many young, low-income Americans.”
The armed forces, she told the Times, “can for some provide a rewarding career,” but recruitment should not be targeted to poorer students while “low-income Americans are not being given anywhere near the same information or access to trade schools, college or other post graduate opportunities."
Contrary to the Congresswoman's claims, service in the U.S. Military provides a number of rewarding opportunities, not only for a career defending the country but in pursuing an education.
"While in service, members have access to up to $4,500 a year in Tuition Assistance. TA is paid to the school on a per class basis. Servicemembers can also use GI Bill benefits," Military.com reports.
"The centerpiece of armed services educational benefits is the GI Bill which encompasses several Department of Veterans Affairs education programs including the Post-9/11 GI Bill, The Montgomery GI Bill for Active Duty and Veterans (MGIB-AD), Montgomery GI Bill for Selected Reserves (MGIB-SR),the Fry Scholarship, the Spouse and Dependents Education Assistance (DEA), and the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program. You may be eligible for more than one educational benefit," the information continues. "Remember that each service has its own tuition assistance programs, college funds and other means that may be able to help you in ways beyond those of the 'standard' benefits."
The military gives opportunity to those who need it most.