II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3903 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with a federally 

funded research and development center for a study on the barriers 

to minority participation in the elite units of the Armed Forces, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development 

center for a study on the barriers to minority participation in the elite units of the Armed Forces, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equality in Leadership 

5 and Inclusion in Top Elements Act of 2020’’ or the 

6 ‘‘ELITE Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In 1999, the RAND Corporation issued a 

4 report entitled ‘‘Barriers to Minority Participation in 

5 Special Operations Forces’’ that was sponsored by 

6 United States Special Operations Command. 

7 (2) In 2018, the RAND Corporation issued a 

8 report entitled ‘‘Understanding Demographic Dif9 ferences in Undergraduate Pilot Training Attrition’’ 

10 that was sponsored by the Air Force. 

11 (3) No significant independent study has been 

12 performed by a federally funded research and devel13 opment center into increasing minority participation 

14 in the special forces since 1999. 

15 SEC. 3. EVALUATION OF BARRIERS TO MINORITY PARTICI16 PATION IN CERTAIN UNITS OF THE ARMED 

17 FORCES. 

18 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

21 of Defense shall seek to enter into an agreement 

22 with a federally funded research and development 

23 center with relevant expertise to conduct an evalua24 tion of the barriers to minority participation in cov25 ered units of the Armed Forces. 


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1 (2) ELEMENTS.—The evaluation required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall include the following elements: 

3 (A) A description of the racial, ethnic, and 

4 gender composition of covered units. 

5 (B) A comparison of the participation 

6 rates of minority populations in covered units to 

7 participation rates of the general population as 

8 members and as officers of the Armed Forces. 

9 (C) A comparison of the percentage of mi10 nority officers in the grade of O–7 or higher 

11 who have served in each covered unit to such 

12 percentage for all such officers in the Armed 

13 Force of that covered unit. 

14 (D) An identification of barriers to minor15 ity participation in the accession, assessment, 

16 and training processes. 

17 (E) The status and effectiveness of the re18 sponse to the recommendations contained in the 

19 report referred to in section 2(1) and any fol20 low-up recommendations. 

21 (F) Recommendations to increase the num22 ber of minority officers in the Armed Forces. 

23 (G) Recommendations to increase minority 

24 participation in covered units. 


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1 (H) Any other matters the Secretary deter2 mines appropriate. 

3 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

4 shall— 

5 (A) submit to the congressional defense 

6 committees a report on the results of the study 

7 by not later than January 1, 2022; and 

8 (B) provide interim briefings to such com9 mittees upon request. 

10 (b) DESIGNATION.—The study conducted under sub11 section (a) shall be known as the ‘‘Study on Reducing Bar12 riers to Minority Participation in Elite Units in the Armed 

13 Services’’. 

14 (c) IMPLEMENTATION REQUIRED.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), not later than March 1, 2023, the Sec17 retary of Defense shall commence the implementa18 tion of each recommendation included in the final 

19 report submitted under subsection (a)(3). 

20 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

21 (A) DELAYED IMPLEMENTATION.—The 

22 Secretary of Defense may commence implemen23 tation of a recommendation described in para24 graph (1) not later than March 1, 2023, if— 


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1 (i) the Secretary submits to the con2 gressional defense committees, not later 

3 than January 1, 2023, written notice of 

4 the intent of the Secretary to delay imple5 mentation of the recommendation; and 

6 (ii) includes, as part of such notice, a 

7 specific justification for the delay in imple8 menting the recommendation. 

9 (B) NONIMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec10 retary of Defense may elect not to implement a 

11 recommendation described in paragraph (1), 

12 if— 

13 (i) the Secretary submits to the con14 gressional defense committees, not later 

15 than January 1, 2023, written notice of 

16 the intent of the Secretary not to imple17 ment the recommendation; and 

18 (ii) includes, as part of such notice— 

19 (I) the reasons for the Sec20 retary’s decision not to implement the 

21 recommendation; and 

22 (II) a summary of alternative ac23 tions the Secretary will carry out to 

24 address the purposes underlying the 

25 recommendation. 


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1 (3) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—For each rec2 ommendation that the Secretary implements under 

3 this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to the 

4 congressional defense committees an implementation 

5 plan that includes— 

6 (A) a summary of actions the Secretary 

7 has carried out, or intends to carry out, to im8 plement the recommendation; and 

9 (B) a schedule, with specific milestones, 

10 for completing the implementation of the rec11 ommendation. 

12 (d) COVERED UNITS DEFINED.—In this section, the 

13 term ‘‘covered units’’ means the following: 

14 (1) Army Special Forces. 

15 (2) Army Rangers. 

16 (3) Navy SEALs. 

17 (4) Air Force Combat Control Teams. 

18 (5) Air Force Pararescue. 

19 (6) Air Force Special Reconnaissance. 

20 (7) Marine Raider Regiments. 

21 (8) Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance. 

22 (9) Coast Guard Deployable Operations Group. 

23 (10) Any other forces designated by the Sec24 retary of Defense as special operations forces. 


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1 (11) Pilot and navigator military occupational 

2 specialties. 

Æ 


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