5951 Village Center Loop Rd,

San Diego, CA 92130

March 1, 2017
Kamala Harris
California Senator
P.O. Box 78393
San Francisco, CA 94107-8393

Dear Kamala Harris:

My name is Erin McBurnett and I am currently 18-years-old and a senior at Canyon Crest
Academy in San Diego. This coming August, I plan to study Biology at the University of Iowa in
Iowa City. I am currently in an American Government class where we have been tasked with
creating a bill on a topic of our choice and navigating it through a mock Congressional vote.

With Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and the Naval Base Coronado being only short drives
from where I have grown up, military news has always been prevalent in my household. Also,
being from a liberal area in San Diego, the fight for complete gender equality has remained in
the forefront of my day-to-day life. So when I heard that front line positions were being opened
up to women, I could not have been happier.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the fight for gender equality has spun out of control. Where I
used to see reason and common sense, I now see a blind fight for anything and everything a
woman can get her hands on. This is what is happening with the effort to put more women in
jobs on the front lines and leading platoons. The effort is great and their hearts are in the right
place, but it just simply is not reasonable. With the fight for equality in full swing, people are
forgetting how real the world can be.

This is why we must take action now. Everyday that passes with women being held to a lower
standard than men and still doing the same job is dangerous. Both men and women are more
likely to be killed in combat because a woman simply cannot perform at the same level as men
in certain situations. By lowering the Physical Standards for women in the Army, we have the
blood of those who die because of an avoidable accident on our hands.

Holding women to the same standards as men makes sure the individual holding the job in
discussion can perform to the necessary standards and succeed. This is a fine line we are
walking here. By requiring the same physical standards be met for both men and women in the
Army, we risk an effort to raise the standards in attempt to keep women out of the jobs in
discussion. However, and more importantly, by allowing the standards to be lowered for
women, we risk the lives of so many more of our soldiers simply because a women cannot
perform at the same level as men in certain situations.
That is why my proposed bill is so important. A yes vote for my bill means that the Army will not
be able to have differing physical standards for men and women holding jobs on the front lines
and up. A yes will also require the standards to be created within reason. A yes vote for my bill
is a yes vote for realistic gender equality.

Sincerely,

Erin McBurnett