[House Report 117-647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress   }                                        {   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                        {   117-647

======================================================================

 
   RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTING THE 
 SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TO TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ANY 
 RECORD CREATED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 21, 2021, UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE 
PRESIDENT OR THE SECRETARY, RESPECTIVELY, THAT REFERS TO THE DEPARTMENT 
  OF DEFENSE AND INCLUDES CERTAIN TERMS AND PHRASES RELATING TO GENDER

                                _______
                                

 December 16, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Smith of Washington, from the Committee on Armed Services, 
                        submitted the following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1475]

    The Committee on Armed Services, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 1475) of inquiry requesting the President 
and directing the Secretary of Defense to transmit to the House 
of Representatives any record created on or after January 21, 
2021, under the control of the President or the Secretary, 
respectively, that refers to the Department of Defense and 
includes certain terms and phrases relating to gender, having 
considered the same, reports unfavorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommends that the resolution as amended not be 
agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Background...........................................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Position...............................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     6
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     6
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures     6
Advisory of Earmarks.............................................     6
Oversight Findings...............................................     6
General Performance Goals and Objectives.........................     6
Statement of Federal Mandates....................................     6
Federal Advisory Committee Statement.............................     6
Applicability to the Legislative Branch..........................     6
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     7
Section-by-Section Analysis of Legislation.......................     7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     7
Dissenting Views.................................................     8

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
following:

That President Joseph R. Biden is requested, and Secretary of Defense 
Lloyd J. Austin III is directed, to transmit, to the House of 
Representatives, not later than 30 days after the adoption of this 
resolution, in a complete and unredacted form, a copy of any document, 
book, map, photograph, sound or video recording, machine readable 
material, computerized, digitized, or electronic information created on 
or after January 21, 2021, under the control of the President or the 
Secretary, respectively, that pertains to the Department of Defense and 
contains any of the following terms or phrases:
          (1) Transgender.
          (2) Gender identity.
          (3) Gender transition.
          (4) Gender reassignment.
          (5) Gender affirming.
          (6) Gender neutral.
          (7) Gender dysphoria.
          (8) Nonbinary (or non-binary).
          (9) Gendered language.
          (10) Safe space.
          (11) Inclusive language.

                         PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

    On November 16, 2022, Representative Andrew S. Clyde 
introduced H. Res. 1475, a resolution of inquiry requesting the 
President and directing the Secretary of Defense to transmit to 
the House of Representatives any record created on or after 
January 21, 2021, under the control of the President or the 
Secretary, respectively, that refers to the Department of 
Defense and includes certain terms and phrases relating to 
gender.
    Clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives provides for a committee to report on a 
qualifying resolution of inquiry, such as H. Res. 1475, within 
14 legislative days or a privileged motion to discharge the 
committee is in order. H. Res. 1475 was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services on November 16, 2022.
    Under the rules and precedents of the House, a resolution 
of inquiry is one of the methods that the House can use to 
obtain information from the executive branch. As stated in 
volume 7, chapter 24, section 8 of ``Deschler's Precedents,'' a 
resolution of inquiry is a ``simple resolution making a direct 
request or demand of the President or head of an executive 
department to furnish the House of Representatives with 
specific information in the possession of the executive 
branch.'' In addition, the resolution must seek facts rather 
than opinions and may not require an investigation.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6)(A) of House rule XIII, 
the Committee on Armed Services held no hearings on H. Res. 
1475.

                           COMMITTEE POSITION

    On December 13, 2022, the committee met in open session and 
ordered the resolution, H. Res. 1475, unfavorably reported to 
the House with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, by a 
roll call vote of 30 to 26, a quorum being present.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    In accordance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, two recorded votes were taken 
with respect to the committee's consideration of H. Res. 1475. 
The record of these votes is contained in the following pages.
    The committee ordered the resolution, H. Res. 1475, 
unfavorably reported to the House with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute, by a roll call vote of 30 to 26, a 
quorum being present.

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                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives and 402 of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974, the committee has requested but not received a 
cost estimate for this legislation from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office.

                        COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

    The committee notes that clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply to 
committee reports on simple resolutions.

   NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    In accordance with clause (3)(c)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this resolution does not 
provide any new budget authority, new spending authority, new 
credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax 
expenditures.

                          ADVISORY OF EARMARKS

    The committee finds that H. Res. 1475, as reported, does 
not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule XXI 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives.

                           OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the committee are incorporated 
in the descriptive portions of this report.

                GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the performance goals and 
objectives of H. Res. 1475 is to request the President and 
direct the Secretary of Defense to transmit to the House of 
Representatives any records that pertains to the Department of 
Defense and includes certain terms and phrases relating to 
gender.

                     STATEMENT OF FEDERAL MANDATES

    Pursuant to section 423 of Public Law 104-4, this 
resolution contains no Federal mandates with respect to state, 
local, and tribal governments, nor with respect to the private 
sector. Similarly, the resolution provides no Federal 
intergovernmental mandates.

                  FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The committee finds that this legislation does not relate 
to the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 
104-1).

                    DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    No provision of this resolution establishes or reauthorizes 
a program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of 
another Federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

               SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION

    This resolution would request the President and the direct 
the Secretary of Defense to transmit to the House of 
Representatives any record created on or after January 21, 
2021, that pertains to the Department of Defense and includes 
certain terms and phrases relating to gender (e.g., 
transgender).

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the committee advises that H. 
Res. 1475 would not make any changes to existing law.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    There can be no doubt Department of Defense policy is to 
indoctrinate our fighting forces into a woke ideology. Let me 
be clear, this is not an indictment on the brave men and women 
who wear the uniform and selflessly serve to defend our way of 
life. Rather, this charge is directed at the besuited political 
appointees of the Biden Administration, starting with Secretary 
Lloyd Austin.
    The Majority continues to ignore the reality of the 
situation, despite the overwhelming evidence, bending the knee 
to the Biden Administraion. I offer the following documents as 
evidence in dissent to the Majority's decision to report H. 
Res. 1475 unfavorably.

                                                        Matt Gaetz.

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