Text of FL H 1319 (2023)

 HM 1319 2023 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hm1319-00 Page 1 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S House Memorial 1 A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2 urging Congress to restore the Department of Defense's 3 superior warfighting principles of recruiting, 4 assigning, training, promoting, and retaining 5 personnel solely based on merit and ensuring such 6 personnel maintain and display a warrior ethos. 7 8 WHEREAS, the United States became the world's greatest 9 warfighting nation shortly after its founding, a fact clearly 10 demonstrated in the 1900s and early 2000s through its engagement 11 in two World Wars and several other military campaigns 12 throughout the globe, establishing a deterrent effect that has 13 prevented another World War for almost 80 years, and 14 WHEREAS, the United States military dominance in 15 warfighting came about through reliance on the concept of 16 meritocracy, in which personnel are recruited, assigned to 17 specialties, assigned to positions within a unit, retained, and 18 promoted based on their demonstrated aptitude and performance in 19 the roles they are assigned to perform, regardless of their 20 race, gender, sexual preference, or other person-centric 21 identifiers, and 22 WHEREAS, the United States military dominance in 23 warfighting also came about through the ability of personnel to 24 have and maintain a warrior ethos, one in which they are able to 25  HM 1319 2023 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hm1319-00 Page 2 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S transition from being a kind, compassionate individual in 26 peacetime to one who is willing and able to engage an enemy in 27 battle with violence and lethality, and this includes support 28 personnel who may not typically be called upon to engage the 29 enemy face-to-face but nonetheless may find themselves in 30 situations that require them to do so, and 31 WHEREAS, over the past several years, the Department of 32 Defense and its military services have engaged in various 33 practices eroding these warfighting principles to the point at 34 which United States Military dominance has been called into 35 serious question, which practices include, but are not limited 36 to: 37 (1) Overemphasizing and relying on diversity and inclusion 38 in all its forms, including gender, gender identity, race, and 39 sexual preference, as a primary determinant in how military 40 forces should be comprised without providing credible and 41 verifiable evidence that such a prescribed composition results 42 in higher job performance, unit effectiveness, and mission 43 accomplishment, as opposed to a model in which a meritocracy- 44 based force composition is used; 45 (2) Making nonsensical "unconscious bias" training 46 mandatory for all military and civilian personnel; 47 (3) Instituting mandatory "emergency use only" COVID-19 48 vaccines with little regard to individual medical concerns in 49 light of the Anthrax vaccine mandate problems of the late 1990s 50  HM 1319 2023 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hm1319-00 Page 3 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S and denying almost all requests for exemptions based on 51 religious grounds, which is particularly troubling given the 52 recent decision by the Department of Defense to rescind the 53 COVID-19 vaccine mandate; and 54 (4) Requiring mandatory training at the United States Air 55 Force Academy to incorporate "person-centered" and gender- 56 neutral language when describing individuals and to request 57 cadets to consider using the term "parent" or "caregiver" rather 58 than "mother" or "father" as to not offend those that may come 59 from a different parenting background, and 60 WHEREAS, such practices are having a detrimental effect on 61 recruitment, as the United States Army was 15,000 soldiers short 62 of its 2022 recruiting goals, the worst on record since the 63 Armed Forces switched to an all-volunteer force nearly 50 years 64 ago, and the remaining branches of the Armed Forces are well 65 behind their historic goal rates as they enter into the 2023 66 recruiting season, and 67 WHEREAS, recent studies have found that most young 68 Americans are not fit for military service, with the Department 69 of Defense estimating that just 2 percent of 17- to 21-year-olds 70 have the desired combination of strong academic credentials, 71 adequate physical fitness, and an interest in serving, and 72 WHEREAS, the combination of an incapable and uninterested 73 recruiting age group and nonmerit-based practices calls into 74 serious question whether the United States military currently 75  HM 1319 2023 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hm1319-00 Page 4 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S has a sufficient number of members who hold a warrior ethos 76 needed to effectively engage an enemy, and 77 WHEREAS, those with the necessary warrior ethos currently 78 serving in the United States military are more likely to leave 79 service, and those with the necessary warrior ethos before 80 entering into service are more likely to refrain from enlisting 81 as they discover the composition and practices of the Armed 82 Services as outlined herein, NOW, THEREFORE, 83 84 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 85 86 That the United States Congress is urged, through the use 87 of its authorization and appropriation authorities, to prohibit 88 the use of such "woke" social engineering and experimentation 89 practices, which are eroding military effectiveness, and to 90 mandate a return to a merit-based system for military force 91 development and composition. 92 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch 93 copies of this memorial to the President of the United States, 94 to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of 95 the United States House of Representatives, and to each member 96 of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 97