Advancing Justice - AAJC Letter About National Defense Authorization Act

Dear Chairmen Reed and Rogers and Ranking Members Wicker and Smith,

As you enter into conference to resolve the differences between the House and Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24 NDAA), we urge you to strike provisions that stoke racial animus, bias, and discrimination, as well as undermine Asian American participation in the Armed Services.

Specifically, we ask you to remove provisions that would undercut Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and discourage the adoption of critical race theory (CRT) in classrooms or training sessions within the U.S. military. We also urge you to prohibit the inclusion of provisions that would effectively bar foreign nationals – including Chinese foreign nationals – from acquiring certain types of U.S. agricultural land.