IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 575 

Urging the House of Representatives to restore the Department of Defense’s 

superior warfighting principles of recruiting, assigning, training, promoting, and retaining personnel solely based on merit and ensuring 

such personnel maintain and display a warrior ethos and crediting Florida legislature for passing the Florida Senate Memorial SM 1382. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 3, 2023 

Mr. STEUBE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the House of Representatives to restore the Department of Defense’s superior warfighting principles of recruiting, assigning, training, promoting, and retaining 

personnel solely based on merit and ensuring such personnel maintain and display a warrior ethos and crediting Florida legislature for passing the Florida Senate 

Memorial SM 1382. 

Whereas the House of Representatives credits Florida legislature for passing the Florida Senate Memorial SM 1382; 

Whereas the United States became the world’s greatest 

warfighting nation shortly after its founding, a fact clearly demonstrated in the 1900s and early 2000s through 

its engagement in two World Wars and several other 


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•HRES 575 IH 

military campaigns throughout the globe, establishing a 

deterrent effect that has prevented another World War 

for almost 80 years; 

Whereas the United States military dominance in warfighting 

came about through reliance on the concept of 

meritocracy, in which personnel are recruited, assigned to 

specialties, assigned to positions within a unit, retained, 

and promoted based on their demonstrated aptitude and 

performance in the roles they are assigned to perform, regardless of their race, gender, sexual preference, or other 

person-centric identifiers; 

Whereas the United States military dominance in warfighting 

also came about through the ability of personnel to have 

and maintain a warrior ethos, one in which they are able 

to transition from being a kind, compassionate individual 

in peacetime to one who is willing and able to engage an 

enemy in battle with violence and lethality, and this includes support personnel who may not typically be called 

upon to engage the enemy face-to-face but nonetheless 

may find themselves in situations that require them to do 

so; 

Whereas, over the past several years, the Department of Defense and its military services have engaged in various 

practices eroding these warfighting principles to the point 

at which United States military dominance has been 

called into serious question, which practices include, but 

are not limited to— 

(1) overemphasizing and relying on diversity and inclusion in all its forms, including gender, gender identity, 

race, and sexual preference, as a primary determinant in 

how military forces should be comprised without providing credible and verifiable evidence that such a preVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR575.IH HR575

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scribed composition results in higher job performance, 

unit effectiveness, and mission accomplishment, as opposed to a model in which a meritocracy-based force composition is used; 

(2) making nonsensical ‘‘unconscious bias’’ training 

mandatory for all military and civilian personnel; 

(3) instituting mandatory ‘‘emergency use only’’ 

COVID–19 vaccines with little regard to individual medical concerns in light of the anthrax vaccine mandate 

problems of the late 1990s and denying almost all requests for exemptions based on religious grounds, which 

is particularly troubling given the recent decision by the 

Department of Defense to rescind the COVID–19 vaccine 

mandate; and 

(4) requiring mandatory training at the United 

States Air Force Academy to incorporate ‘‘person-centered’’ and gender-neutral language when describing individuals and to request cadets to consider using the term 

‘‘parent’’ or ‘‘caregiver’’ rather than ‘‘mother’’ or ‘‘father’’ as to not offend those that may come from a different parenting background; 

Whereas such practices are having a detrimental effect on recruitment, as the United States Army was 15,000 soldiers short of its 2022 recruiting goals, the worst on 

record since the Armed Forces switched to an all-volunteer force nearly 50 years ago, and the remaining 

branches of the Armed Forces are well behind their historic goal rates as they enter into the 2023 recruiting 

season; 

Whereas recent studies have found that most young Americans are not fit for military service, with the Department 

of Defense estimating that just 2 percent of 17- to 21- 


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year-olds have the desired combination of strong academic credentials, adequate physical fitness, and an interest in serving; 

Whereas the combination of an incapable and uninterested 

recruiting age group and nonmerit-based practices calls 

into serious question whether the United States military 

currently has a sufficient number of members who hold 

a warrior ethos needed to effectively engage an enemy; 

and 

Whereas those with the necessary warrior ethos currently 

serving in the United States military are more likely to 

leave service, and those with the necessary warrior ethos 

before entering into service are more likely to refrain 

from enlisting as they discover the composition and practices of the armed services as outlined herein: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) prohibits the use of such ‘‘woke’’ social en3 gineering and experimentation practices, which are 

4 eroding military effectiveness, and to mandate a re5 turn to a merit-based system for military force de6 velopment and composition; and 

7 (2) credits Florida legislature for passing the 

8 Florida Senate Memorial SM 1382. 

Æ 


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