S.Amdt. 989

SA 989. Mr. DAINES submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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:

Strike section 534 and insert the following:

SEC. 534. MILITARY PERSONNEL: RECRUITING; MERIT-BASED
DETERMINATIONS.

(a) Recruiting.--Not later than September 30, 2024, the
Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations that any
effort to recruit an individual to serve in a covered Armed
Force may not take into account the race or gender of such
individual.
(b) Merit-based Determinations.--Not later than September
30, 2024, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe
regulations that, with regards to a military accession,
assignment, selection, or promotion--
(1) a determination shall be made on the basis of merit in
order to advance those individuals who exhibit the talent and
abilities necessary to promote the national security of the
United States;
(2) a candidate shall be evaluated on the bases of
qualifications, performance, integrity, fitness, training,
and conduct;
(3) no determination may be based on favoritism or
nepotism; and
(4) no quota may be used.
(c) Covered Armed Force Defined.--In this section, the term
``covered Armed Force'' means the following:
(1) The Army.
(2) The Navy.
(3) The Marine Corps.
(4) The Air Force.
(5) The Space Force.
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