S.Amdt. 6411

SA 6411. Mr. WARNER 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 G of title V, add the following:

SEC. 589. REPORT ON RECRUITING AND PROMOTING ASIAN AMERICANS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE STRATEGIC MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

(1) Asian American members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees and contractors of the Department of Defense are critical assets to the Department's ability to execute on its long-term strategies and achieve maximum readiness, including with regard to strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific region; and

(2) greater emphasis on recruitment of Asian American personnel, especially those with language, technical, and cultural competencies, and subsequent promotion to senior leadership and general and flag officer levels, improves the Department's ability to accomplish its mission around the world and in the Indo-Pacific region.

(b) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes--

(1) an assessment of the extent to which the ability of the Department of Defense to implement the National Security Strategic Guidance and National Defense Strategy, as well as the ability of the Department to meet the challenges of strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific region, is supported by recruitment and promotion of Asian Americans, and is negatively impacted by the discrimination faced by Asian Americans; and

(2) an assessment of the current gaps in language, technical, and cultural competencies among personnel of the Department and of any identified benefits from increased Asian American recruitment and promotion.