[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 125 (Thursday, July 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S3465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  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.
                                 ______