To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the modification and clarification of construction authority in the event of a declaration of war or national emergency, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2762 To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the modification and clarification of construction authority in the event of a declaration of war or national emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2019 Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. VELA, Mrs. TRAHAN, and Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the modification and clarification of construction authority in the event of a declaration of war or national emer- gency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2762 IH SECTION 1. MODIFICATION AND CLARIFICATION OF CON- 1 STRUCTION AUTHORITY IN THE EVENT OF A 2 DECLARATION OF WAR OR NATIONAL EMER- 3 GENCY. 4 (a) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS AVAILABLE 5 FOR NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—Section 2808 of title 10, 6 United States Code, is amended— 7 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 8 section (e); and 9 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 10 lowing new subsection (c): 11 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS AVAILABLE 12 FOR NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—In the event of a declara- 13 tion by the President of a national emergency in which 14 the construction authority described in subsection (a) is 15 used, the total cost of all military construction projects 16 undertaken using that authority during the national emer- 17 gency may not exceed $250,000,000.’’. 18 (b) WAIVER OF OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.—Sec- 19 tion 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 20 inserting after subsection (c), as added by subsection (a), 21 the following new subsection: 22 ‘‘(d) WAIVER OF OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW IN 23 EVENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—In the event of a 24 declaration by the President of a national emergency in 25 which the construction authority described in subsection 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2762 IH (a) is used, the authority provided by such subsection to 1 waive or disregard another provision of law that would 2 otherwise apply to a military construction project author- 3 ized by this section may be used only if— 4 ‘‘(1) such other provision of law does not pro- 5 vide a means by which compliance with the require- 6 ments of the law may be waived, modified, or expe- 7 dited; and 8 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Defense determines that 9 the nature of the national emergency necessitates 10 the noncompliance with the requirements of the 11 law.’’. 12 (c) ADDITIONAL CONDITION ON SOURCES OF 13 FUNDS.—Section 2808(a) of title 10, United States Code, 14 is amended in the second sentence by inserting before the 15 period the following: ‘‘and that the Secretary of Defense 16 determines are otherwise unexecutable’’. 17 (d) ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 18 Section 2808(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amend- 19 ed— 20 (1) by striking ‘‘of the decision’’ and all that 21 follows through the end of the subsection and insert- 22 ing the following: ‘‘of the following: 23 ‘‘(A) The reasons for the decision to use the 24 construction authority described in subsection (a), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2762 IH including, in the event of a declaration by the Presi- 1 dent of a national emergency, the reasons why use 2 of the armed forces is required in response to the 3 declared national emergency. 4 ‘‘(B) The construction projects to be under- 5 taken using the construction authority described in 6 subsection (a), including, in the event of a declara- 7 tion by the President of a national emergency, an 8 explanation of how each construction project directly 9 supports the immediate security, logistical, or short- 10 term housing and ancillary supporting facility needs 11 of the members of the armed forces used in the na- 12 tional emergency. 13 ‘‘(C) The estimated cost of the construction 14 projects to be undertaken using the construction au- 15 thority described in subsection (a), including the 16 cost of any real estate action pertaining to the con- 17 struction projects, and certification of compliance 18 with the funding conditions imposed by the second 19 sentence of subsection (a) and subsection (c). 20 ‘‘(D) Any determination made pursuant to sub- 21 section (d)(2) to waive or disregard another provi- 22 sion of law to undertake any construction project 23 using the construction authority described in sub- 24 section (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2762 IH ‘‘(E) The military construction projects, includ- 1 ing any military family housing and ancillary sup- 2 porting facility projects, to be canceled or deferred 3 in order to provide funds to undertake construction 4 projects using the construction authority described 5 in subsection (a) and the possible impact of the can- 6 cellation or deferment of such military construction 7 projects on military readiness and the quality of life 8 of members of the armed forces and their depend- 9 ents.’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(2) In the event of a declaration by the President 13 of a national emergency in which the construction author- 14 ity described in subsection (a) is used, a construction 15 project to be undertaken using such construction authority 16 may be carried out only after the end of the five-day pe- 17 riod beginning on the date the notification required by 18 paragraph (1) is received by the appropriate committees 19 of Congress.’’. 20 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 2808 of title 21 10, United States Code, is further amended— 22 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘CONSTRUC- 23 TION AUTHORIZED.—’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2762 IH (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘NOTIFICA- 1 TION REQUIREMENT.—(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 2 (3) in subsection (e), as redesignated by sub- 3 section (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘TERMINATION OF AU- 4 THORITY.—’’ before ‘‘The authority’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS