As a citizen of the United States of America, the just treatment of military servicemembers is important to me and is a topic that I follow closely.

While military servicemembers are subject to lawful orders, they are protected by the Constitution of the United States and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Recently, the senior leadership of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military services has demonstrated disregard for the constitutional rights of military members in the disposition of COVID-19 inoculation requirements for all members of the military.

In accordance with their Constitutional First Amendment rights many military service members have requested religious exemptions to the COVID-19 inoculation requirement. At the time of this writing, the senior leaders of the DoD and military services have approved one religious exemption. Many servicemembers have been discharged. This is a travesty!

I believe senior leaders of the DoD and the military services, including appointees, officers, and senior executives have failed the citizens of the United States by mistreating our children, spouses, parents, and friends who serve as members of the United States military. The senior leadership of the DoD and military services has violated the special trust and confidence of the citizenry.

This injustice of DoD and military leadership must not be allowed to continue. It is now time for a lawful petition for redress of this grievance by concerned citizens to fall upon the DoD and military services.

• I request the United States Senate withhold consent of all promotions of senior leaders of the DoD and the military services (including appointees, officers O4 and above, and senior executives) both individual promotions and en masse promotion lists.
• I request that Senate consent for promotions be withheld for an indefinite period, until it can be confirmed that the COVID-19 mandatory inoculation injustice perpetrated against all military members has been corrected.