[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 206 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H6965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RESOLVING THE MILITARY RECRUITING CRISIS

  (Mr. McCORMICK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the conference 
report for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
  I am proud to report that this conference report includes language 
that I authored to both rein in government-sponsored censorship and 
help resolve the military recruiting crisis.
  The 2024 NDAA will require advertising agencies placing military 
recruitment commercials to certify that they have not placed 
advertisements in news sources based on personal or institutional 
political preferences or biases or determinations of misinformation.
  This language is intended to prevent the Department of Defense from 
contracting with advertising agencies that utilize blacklists provided 
by organizations like Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard, which 
have been found to be biased against conservative viewpoints.
  Mr. Speaker, of the five Defense Department service branches, only 
two, the Marine Corps and Space Force, met their Active-Duty enlisted 
recruiting goals for fiscal year 2023. Last year, the Army missed its 
recruiting goals by 25 percent.
  In the midst of this recruiting crisis, it makes zero sense to 
artificially limit the reach of our military recruitment 
advertisements. It is especially foolish when those limitations target 
the sites frequented by the people most likely to volunteer to serve.
  I am grateful to Chairman Rogers, Speaker Johnson, and Ranking Member 
Wicker for fighting to include this important revision.

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