1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Strategic Defense Fellows Act of 2023 . 2. Improvements to the John S. McCain strategic defense fellows program (a) Selection of participants Subsection (d)(2) of section 932 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( Public Law 115–232 ; 10 U.S.C. 1580 note prec.) is amended to read as follows: (2) Geographical representation Out of the total number of individuals selected to participate in the fellows program in any year, no more than 20 percent may be from any of the following geographic regions: (A) The Northeast United States. (B) The Southeast United States. (C) The Midwest United States. (D) The Southwest United States. (E) The Western United States. (F) Alaska, Hawaii, United States territories, and areas outside the United States. . (b) Appointment, placement, and conversion Such section is further amended— (1) in subsection (d)(3)— (A) by striking assigned and inserting appointed ; and (B) by striking assignment and inserting appointment