HJR 21: Relating to recruitment and retention in the United States Armed Forces and the National Guard; requesting President Biden to make available the results of an evaluation concerning the president's mental fitness and ability to discharge the powers and duties of the Office of the President of the United States; and urging the principal officers of the executive departments of the United States to examine the repeated failures of the United States Department of Defense to meet assigned recruitment goals and to take immediate action.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21 01 Relating to recruitment and retention in the United States Armed Forces and the 02 National Guard; requesting President Biden to make available the results of an 03 evaluation concerning the president's mental fitness and ability to discharge the powers 04 and duties of the Office of the President of the United States; and urging the principal 05 officers of the executive departments of the United States to examine the repeated 06 failures of the United States Department of Defense to meet assigned recruitment goals 07 and to take immediate action. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, signed into 10 law by the president on December 22, 2023, reduced the authorized end strength for active 11 duty personnel in the United States Armed Forces to 1,284,500; and 12 WHEREAS the authorization reflects the lowest authorized end strength for active 13 duty personnel in the United States Armed Forces since 1940; and 14 WHEREAS the reduction in authorized end strength was not driven by a similar
01 reduction in threats to the national security interests of the United States, but is a direct 02 consequence of the failure of the United States Armed Forces to meet assigned recruitment 03 and retention goals; and 04 WHEREAS the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Armed 05 Services has stated publicly that the nation needs a larger number of active duty personnel in 06 every branch, but the reduction in active duty personnel is driven by the reality of recruitment, 07 not the needs of the nation; and 08 WHEREAS, in fiscal year 2023, the United States Armed Services failed to meet its 09 recruitment goals by 41,000 personnel; and 10 WHEREAS, in fiscal year 2023, the United States National Guard also again failed to 11 meet its recruitment goals; and 12 WHEREAS, in response to recruitment challenges, the United States Department of 13 Defense has announced changes to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to 14 increase scores on the armed forces enlistment examination, has expanded waivers for recruits 15 who fail to pass initial drug screenings, has implemented programs for potential recruits who 16 fail to meet required physical and academic standards, and, in some cases, has begun 17 recruiting candidates without a high school diploma or GED; and 18 WHEREAS art. II, sec. 2, Constitution of the United States, provides that "[t]he 19 President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States"; and 20 WHEREAS the Oath of Enlistment for the United States Armed Forces states, "I will 21 obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed 22 over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice"; and 23 WHEREAS service in the United States Armed Forces carries the inherent risk of 24 injury or death in the course of obeying the orders of the President of the United States; and 25 WHEREAS, on January 11, 2024, two United States Navy SEALs were killed in the 26 Gulf of Aden; and 27 WHEREAS, on January 28, 2024, three United States Army Reservists were killed in 28 Jordan; and 29 WHEREAS, on February 6, 2024, five United States Marines were killed during a 30 training mission in California; and 31 WHEREAS the individuals who serve in the United States Armed Forces must have
01 confidence in the mental fitness of the president, upon whose orders the individuals may be 02 sent into harm's way; and 03 WHEREAS uncertainty over the current health and mental fitness of the president has 04 a negative effect on recruitment and retention in the United States Armed Forces; and 05 WHEREAS recent events have given rise to questions concerning the mental fitness 06 of the President of the United States; and 07 WHEREAS President Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942, during a time 08 when the United States was at war with Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan; and 09 WHEREAS, when asked on June 28, 2023, about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 10 the president declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing the war in Iraq; and 11 WHEREAS, in a televised speech on February 4, 2024, President Biden referred to 12 the current President of France, Emmanuel Macron, as the previous President of France, 13 Francois Mitterrand, who passed away in 1996; and 14 WHEREAS, in a televised speech on February 7, 2024, President Biden repeatedly 15 addressed the living previous German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the former German 16 Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who passed away in 2017; and 17 WHEREAS, in a report released by Special Counsel Robert Hur on February 8, 2024, 18 it was noted that when President Biden was interviewed by the United States Department of 19 Justice, he could not remember when he became Vice President of the United States, when his 20 term of office ended, or when his son had died; and 21 WHEREAS these and other events necessitate that a determination be immediately 22 made as to whether President Biden is currently able to discharge the powers and duties of his 23 office; and 24 WHEREAS, if President Biden is no longer able to discharge those powers and 25 duties, the public is entitled to know who is currently discharging those powers and duties on 26 the public's behalf; and 27 WHEREAS the Office of the President of the United States is currently the sole 28 authority that may lawfully order the use of nuclear weapons by the United States, and when 29 that order is issued by the Office of the President of the United States, no other authority may 30 lawfully countermand the order; 31 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that
01 President Biden make available to the vice president, the principal officers of the executive 02 departments, and the public the results of a recent evaluation concerning President Biden's 03 mental fitness and ability to discharge the powers and duties of the Office of the President of 04 the United States; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the president is unwilling or unable to make the 06 results of an evaluation available, or if the results of an evaluation indicate that the president 07 is currently unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the Alaska State 08 Legislature respectfully requests that Vice President Harris and the principal officers of the 09 executive departments immediately transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and 10 the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that President Biden is 11 currently unable to discharge the powers and duties of the Office of the President of the 12 United States. 13 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 14 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 15 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of 16 Representatives; the Honorable Patty Murray, President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate; the 17 Honorable Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State; the Honorable Janet Yellen, 18 United States Secretary of the Treasury; the Honorable Lloyd Austin, United States Secretary 19 of Defense; the Honorable Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States; the 20 Honorable Deb Haaland, United States Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Tom Vilsack, 21 United States Secretary of Agriculture; the Honorable Gina Raimondo, United States 22 Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Xavier Becerra, United States Secretary of Health and 23 Human Services; the Honorable Marcia Fudge, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban 24 Development; the Honorable Pete Buttigieg, United States Secretary of Transportation; the 25 Honorable Jennifer Granholm, United States Secretary of Energy; the Honorable Miguel 26 Cardona, United States Secretary of Education; the Honorable Denis McDonough, United 27 States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, United States 28 Secretary of Homeland Security; the Honorable Julie Su, acting United States Secretary of 29 Labor; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, 30 and the Honorable Mary Peltola, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 31 Congress.