Republican Representative Paul Gosar (AZ) sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, condemning Harris’s statement that no U.S. soldiers are in active combat zones.
During her debate with Donald Trump, Harris said there are “no active-duty troops deployed to war zones.”
Gosar called Harris’s statement “simply false.”
“American soldiers are dying or sustaining critical wounds, like traumatic brain injuries, in heroic defense of our nation,” Gosar wrote, adding, “Is the denial of troops present in combat zones inferring that American soldiers do not deserve combat pay? Or perhaps there is a plan to withdraw these soldiers before they can receive such pay? If Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria are still not considered combat zones, I am not confident the executive branch is maintaining the diplomatic relations required to ease escalating tensions and deter further attacks on Americans.”
“I request that you immediately correct the record,” the Republican wrote. “These false statements dishonor the men and women still stationed abroad and those American soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation.”
Gosar concluded by stating that “our service members overseas should not feel abandoned by their country. Vice President Harris’s public denial of their presence in combat zones is detrimental to morale.”
American Faith reported that Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) also condemned Harris’s claim, releasing a video on X fact-checking the vice president.
The video showed various war zones where U.S. troops are stationed.