Sen. Adam Hollier of Detroit, a military enlistee, couldn't stay seated after a Republican colleague assailed Democrats' patriotism and personal military commitments on the Senate floor.
"Please don't lecture me. Please don't lecture my constituents," the 36-year-old U.S. Army Reserve first lieutenant said Thursday in an impromptu response to Sen. Jim Runestad of White Lake, a fellow first-term senator.
Adam Hollier: "The threat to this nation is not just coming from Russia -- it is here." (Photo: Michigan Senate Democrats)
"It's easy to wave the flag today. The question is what are you willing to do," added the Detroiter, who spoke for four minutes with stirring sentiments about his grandfather, his own service and America's racial reality.
"The threat to this nation is not just coming from Russia -- it is here," Hollier said.(Full video below.)
Sen. Jeremy Moss of Southfield, the chamber's assistant Democratic leader, sets the stage in a tweet: "Republican Sen. Jim Runestad blustered during session that Democrats are not patriotic, would not sign up for military service to defend our country, and are too woke and focused on dismantling racism." Runestad is running for a second term this year.
Hollier, the son of a former social worker and a retired Detroit Fire Department captain, was born and raised in the North End of Detroit -- where he still lives. He graduated from Detroit Public Schools, Cornell University and has a master’s in urban planning from the University of Michigan. Two months ago he joined a crowded Democratic primary pack in the redrawn 13th Congressional District, where no U.S. House member is running.
(Graphic: Twitter)
Here's most of Hollier's off-the-cuff Senate reflections on military service, partisan potshots and threats that "have been abundantly clear:"
I hadn't planned on speaking today, but I couldn't sit at my chair and let the comments of the past speaker go unanswered.
Because when my gradfather tried to enlist in the Army, they accepted him. ... He qualified to be a pilot and began training. And when they realized he was Black and not white, they discharged him.
So as you talk about racism, please don't lecture me. Please don't lecture my constituents. Please don't lecture people about racism if you've never had to deal with it. Because that's my reality, it's the reality I live with every day.
And when I enlisted in the Army, I did so proud of my country. I did so to defend my country. I did so knowing that one day I may be called to serve, as many of my colleagues have. ...
I believe fundamentally there are places we have a responsibility to go, things we have a responsibility to do. Don't lecture us about what that is or isn't if you haven't done the same. ... The U.S. military is made up of less than 1 percent of our population. Less than 1 percent stand up to serve. ...
When our country is under threat, Michiganders step up. Whether they be Republican, Democrat or independent, people from this state care about their country.
And we should remember that because the threat to this nation is not just coming from Russia -- it is here. And the only stance that we can take, the only thing we can do do push back, is to consistently stand with our nation, with our country, every opportunity that we get. ...
President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy was asking us to stand with him not just after he was invaded, but before. As the previous president was talking about military intervention and election fraud and all of those kind of things, it's important to remember who stood then and who's still standing today, who are talking about these issues.
Because it's easy to wave the flag today. The question is what are you willing to do? And which side do you stand on? Because the lines have been abundantly clear.
This Democrat is proud that I raised my hand, that I serve every opportunity that I get -- as a matter of fact, just having had my reserve weekend this past weekend. So as we think about who we're serving on the front lines, it's us. ...
Black people serve higher than our population [share] because we care about this country and we know that we have an obligation to go places, to show up and to be there. Not to talk about it, but to do it.
'I raised my hand'
