(Press Release) Congressman Keith Self (USMA Class of 1975) introduced the House companion to legislation introduced in the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) reaffirming the principles historically defining West Point, ensuring the Academy remains a beacon of leadership development and national pride.

“On November 5th, 2024, President Trump overwhelmingly won a mandate to restore greatness to America. This mandate includes our military institutions, which have been weakened and neutered by wokeism,” said Congressman Keith Self.

“During my time as a cadet at West Point and throughout my 25-year military career, I was inspired by a key element in West Point’s mission statement: ‘Duty, Honor, Country.’

This hallowed phrase, emphasized by General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell speech to West Point in 1962, embodies the dedication of service that our men and women in uniform exemplify.

Congress should pass this legislation to reaffirm ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ in the mission statement of the U.S. Military Academy, so these three words can continue to inspire future generations of America’s warfighters.”

Congressman Self continued, “We must get this bill to President Trump’s desk to reignite USMA’s culture, basing it on meritocracy and the traditional values that define military leadership.

Our cadets today are tomorrow’s warfighters, and will need lethality, not social justice indoctrination, to survive on the battlefield.”

The phrase “Duty, Honor, Country” first rose to prominence during General Douglas MacArthur’s historic 1962 speech at West Point and stood the test of time as esteemed tenets of leadership until March 2024, when West Point leadership erased the creed from the mission statement.

Read the full bill text HERE. 

A BILL

To amend the mission statement of the United States Military Academy to include the phrase ‘‘Duty, Honor, Country’’.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maintaining Academy Culture and Assuring Retention of Tradition, Honor, and Unity of the Republic Act’’ or the ‘‘MACARTHUR Act’’.

1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that the principles of ‘‘Duty, Honor, Country’’ should be— (1) deeply embedded in the ethos of the United 5 States Military Academy; and (2) instilled in each cadet.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY MISSION STATEMENT.

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall amend the mission statement of the United States Military Academy to include the phrase ‘‘Duty, Honor, Country’’.