S.Amdt. 5839

SA 5839. Ms. STABENOW submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle F of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1064. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF GATHERING DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN (MENA) PERSONNEL.

(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report including the findings of a study on the feasibility of gathering more demographic information on Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense civilian employees.

(b) Elements.--The study required under subsection (a) shall cover the following topics:

(1) How non-MENA White and MENA members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense civilian employees perceive the racial status of MENA traits, and how MENA members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense civilian employees identify themselves (self-identification).

(2) Whether, if given the option, MENA individuals self-identify as MENA or as MENA and White, including by disaggregating the data by first-generation, second-generation, and later generation individuals, and by Muslim population.

(3) Whether inclusion of MENA as a standalone racial category would allow the Armed Forces to gather data more accurately on MENA members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense civilian employees.