HRES994-119

In Committee

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Defense should review section 504 of title 10, United States Code, for purposes related to enlisting certain aliens in the Armed Forces.

119th Congress Introduced Jan 13, 2026

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This is a non-binding House resolution expressing that the Secretary of Defense should review 10 USC 504 -- the statute governing enlistment eligibility -- to determine whether to authorize DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients to enlist in the Armed Forces. Under current law, section 504(b)(2) allows the Secretary of Defense to authorize enlistment of certain non-citizens if deemed vital to the national interest. This resolution urges the Secretary to use that existing authority to consider DACA recipients.

Who Benefits and How

  • DACA recipients would potentially gain access to military service, which provides career opportunities, training, education benefits, and a pathway to citizenship
  • The Armed Forces could benefit from an expanded recruitment pool, particularly of individuals who have grown up in the United States and are already authorized to work

Who Bears the Burden and How

  • No party bears a direct burden since this is a non-binding sense resolution with no legal force
  • The Secretary of Defense is merely encouraged (not required) to conduct a review

Key Provisions

  • Non-binding expression of House sentiment (no force of law)
  • Urges Secretary of Defense to review 10 USC 504
  • Specifically references subsection (b)(2), which allows enlistment of non-citizens when vital to national interest
  • Targets DACA recipients specifically (those with employment authorization documents under the 2012 DHS memorandum)

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Express the non-binding sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Defense should review 10 USC 504 to consider authorizing DACA recipients to enlist in the Armed Forces

Key Policy Areas

Immigration, National Defense, Military Personnel

Primary Purpose

Express the non-binding sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Defense should review 10 USC 504 to consider authorizing DACA recipients to enlist in the Armed Forces

Policy Domains

Immigration National Defense Military Personnel

Sense of the House on DACA Military Enlistment

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • DACA recipients
  • The Armed Forces
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Jan 13, 2026

Mr. Foster (for himself, Ms. Titus, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Veasey, …

Jan 13, 2026

Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.

Jan 13, 2026

Submitted in House

Impact analysis is available but no clear stakeholder effects identified. View clause-level analysis →

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Immigration National Defense Military Personnel
Actor Mappings
"Secretary of Defense"
→ Urged to review 10 USC 504 and consider DACA enlistment authorization
"House of Representatives"
→ Expresses its sense that the Secretary should conduct a review

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

2 terms
"" §DACA

"" §Section 504 of title 10

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology