U.S.-Israel Indirect Fire Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3186 To authorize the Secretary of the Army to procure two Iron Dome short- range rocket defense system batteries, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 10, 2019 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Army to procure two Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system batteries, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S.-Israel Indirect 4 Fire Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) On July 27, 2012, the United States-Israel 8 Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (Public 9 Law 112–150; 22 U.S.C. 8601 et seq.) declared it 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3186.IH H3186 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3186 IH to be the policy of the United States ‘‘to help the 1 Government of Israel preserve its qualitative military 2 edge amid rapid and uncertain regional political 3 transformation’’ and ‘‘provide Israel defense articles 4 and services, to include air refueling tankers, missile 5 defense capabilities, and specialized munitions’’. 6 (2) On December 19, 2014, the President 7 signed into law the United States-Israel Strategic 8 Partnership Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–296) 9 which stated the sense of Congress that Israel is a 10 major strategic partner of the United States and de- 11 clared it to be the policy of the United States ‘‘to 12 continue to provide Israel with robust security as- 13 sistance, including for the procurement of the Iron 14 Dome Missile Defense System’’. 15 (3) In 2014, both governments signed a co-pro- 16 duction agreement to produce Iron Dome’s compo- 17 nents in the United States. 18 (4) The United States has provided more than 19 $1,400,000,000 to Israel for Iron Dome batteries, 20 coproduction costs, and general maintenance. 21 (5) More than 70 percent of the Iron Dome in- 22 terceptor is manufactured in the United States. 23 (6) The Iron Dome system is now a fielded, 24 battle-tested capability in Israel with more than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3186.IH H3186 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3186 IH 1,700 confirmed air defense intercepts and provides 1 a rapid approach to delivering air defense capabili- 2 ties for the United States. 3 (7) As outlined in the National Defense Strat- 4 egy, the Army has critical capability gaps for cruise 5 missile defense, as well as counter-unmanned aerial 6 systems and counter-rocket, artillery, and mortars. 7 (8) In October 2018, the Army reported to 8 Congress that, ‘‘The Iron Dome System has capa- 9 bility against cruise missiles, unmanned aircraft sys- 10 tems, and rocket, artillery, and mortar fire,’’ and 11 ‘‘provides the best value to the Army as an interim 12 capability.’’. 13 (9) In February 2019, the Army Futures Com- 14 mand issued a statement noting an ‘‘intent to pro- 15 cure a limited number of Iron Dome weapon systems 16 to fill its short-term need for an interim Indirect 17 Fire Protection Capability.’’. 18 (10) The Army reported to Congress that ‘‘Iron 19 Dome meets the Army’s modernization vision of 20 rapid deployment of a mature and affordable weapon 21 system.’’. 22 (11) Any delay in procuring the Iron Dome bat- 23 teries for the Army jeopardizes the ability of the 24 Army to field an initial capability in 2020 and cre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3186.IH H3186 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3186 IH ates continued risk to warfighters by leaving this 1 identified critical capability gap unfulfilled. 2 (12) At an April 2, 2019, hearing by the Com- 3 mittee on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 4 resentatives, the Chief of Staff of the Army General 5 Mark Milley stated, ‘‘The Iron Dome is a very capa- 6 ble system. It has basically a 100 percent track 7 record in combat. We clearly need it to protect our 8 formations, and we are buying the two batteries.’’. 9 (13) Section 112 of the John S. McCain Na- 10 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 11 2019 (Public Law 115–232) provides that— 12 (A) if the Secretary of Defense certifies the 13 need for the Army to deploy an interim missile 14 defense capability, the Secretary of the Army 15 shall deploy at least two batteries to provide 16 such capability not later than September 30, 17 2020, and an additional two batteries not later 18 than September 30, 2023; and 19 (B) to meet such deadlines for deployment, 20 the Secretary of the Army may— 21 (i) deploy such systems that ‘‘require 22 the least amount of development’’; and 23 (ii) use any authority of the Secretary 24 relating to acquisition, technology transfer, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3186.IH H3186 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3186 IH and personnel management that the Sec- 1 retary considers appropriate, including 2 rapid acquisition and rapid prototyping au- 3 thorities, to resource and procure an in- 4 terim missile defense capability. 5 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO PROCURE IRON DOME BATTERIES. 6 (a) AUTHORITY.—Pursuant to paragraph (3) of sec- 7 tion 112(b) of the John S. McCain National Defense Au- 8 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115– 9 232), the Secretary of the Army may procure two Iron 10 Dome batteries to carry out paragraph (1)(A) of such sec- 11 tion to deploy an interim missile defense capability by not 12 later than September 30, 2020. 13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 14 authorized to be appropriated $9,337,000 to the Secretary 15 of the Army to carry out subsection (a). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3186.IH H3186 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS