Protecting American Space Assets Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6208 To direct the President to develop a strategy to protect the space assets of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2020 Mr. KINZINGER (for himself, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. TURNER, Mr. ROGERS of Ala- bama, Mr. CROW, and Mrs. BUSTOS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the President to develop a strategy to protect the space assets of the United States, 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 ‘‘Protecting American 4 Space Assets Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Space is essential to— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6208 IH (A) the military and intelligence oper- 1 ations, strategic deterrence, threat detection, 2 and communications of the United States; and 3 (B) effectively facilitate communication be- 4 tween global economic markets. 5 (2) The People’s Republic of China has under- 6 cut space manufacturing programs run by the 7 United States, including satellite manufacturing and 8 launch service programs, through noncompetitive 9 price manipulation. 10 (3) China and the Russia Federation have 11 worked to develop counterspace weapons and elec- 12 tronic warfare capabilities (including electromag- 13 netic, antisatellite, and kinetic weapons) that have 14 the ability to target space assets that belong to the 15 United States. 16 (4) China and Russia have and continue to en- 17 gage in cyber attacks against critical infrastructure 18 of the United States and of allies of the United 19 States. 20 (5) Each year, actions taken by China have ex- 21 ponentially increased the risk of damage to space as- 22 sets that belong to the United States and allies of 23 the United States by significantly increasing the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6208 IH amount of major debris in the orbit paths of such 1 assets. 2 (6) China has demonstrated the intent to keep 3 developing counterspace weapons that target space 4 assets that belong to the United States and allies of 5 the United States. 6 (7) China views space as central to the security 7 and economic industries of China in the future. 8 (8) China is striving to dominate economic in- 9 dustries that deal with space through research and 10 development aimed at increasing manufacturing, ex- 11 tracting resources, and increasing its leverage with 12 respect to countries that strive to develop space 13 technology. 14 (9) China is expanding its foreign network and 15 expanding its presence in space by developing 16 ground station capabilities in foreign nations and 17 promoting participation by such nations in the sat- 18 ellite navigation system administered by China. 19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 20 It is the sense of Congress that the Government 21 should support activities in space by— 22 (1) modernizing the capabilities of the United 23 States and allies of the United States with respect 24 to space; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6208 IH (2) providing protection for space assets, in- 1 cluding the supply chain related to such assets and 2 manufacturing process of such assets; and 3 (3) affirming the duties of the United States 4 Space Force under section 9081 of title 10, United 5 States Code. 6 SEC. 4. SPACE STRATEGIES AND ASSESSMENT. 7 (a) EXECUTIVE STRATEGY.— 8 (1) STRATEGY REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 9 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 10 the President, in consultation with the National 11 Space Council, shall develop and maintain a strategy 12 to ensure that the United States strengthens mili- 13 tary and commercial capabilities in space, increases 14 protections for military and commercial operations 15 with respect to space, and increases protections for 16 space manufacturing programs and launch sites, in- 17 cluding military launch sites and launch sites oper- 18 ated by individuals or entities in the private sector. 19 (2) INCLUSION IN THE NATIONAL DEFENSE 20 STRATEGY.—The Secretary of Defense shall include 21 the strategy most recently developed pursuant to 22 paragraph (1) in the national defense strategy re- 23 quired under section 113(g) of title 10, United 24 States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6208 IH (b) SPACE STRATEGY AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 2 Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 3 Commerce, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 4 committees a report setting forth a strategy to— 5 (1) protect the space assets of the United 6 States, including the supply chain related to such as- 7 sets and manufacturing process of such assets, from 8 threats from the People’s Republic of China and the 9 Russian Federation, which may include protection 10 from intellectual property theft and threats with re- 11 spect to electronic warfare capabilities; and 12 (2) strengthen relations with the allies of the 13 United States with respect to space. 14 (c) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT.— 15 (1) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT REQUIRE- 16 MENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 17 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, 18 in consultation with the Director of National Intel- 19 ligence, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 20 committees a report that includes— 21 (A) an assessment of the capabilities of the 22 Department of Defense to protect— 23 (i) commercial communication and 24 navigation systems in space; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6208 IH (ii) military launch sites; and 1 (iii) launch sites operated by individ- 2 uals or entities in the private sector; and 3 (B) recommendations to improve the capa- 4 bilities assessed pursuant to subparagraph (A), 5 including recommendations with respect to— 6 (i) the electronic warfare capabilities 7 of China and Russia; and 8 (ii) the use of counterspace weapons 9 and cyber attacks by China and Russia. 10 (2) FORM.—The report under paragraph (1) 11 may be submitted in classified form. If submitted in 12 such form, the report shall include an unclassified 13 summary. 14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 16 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 17 mittees’’ means— 18 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 19 the House of Representatives; 20 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 21 the House of Representatives; 22 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com- 23 merce of the House of Representatives; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6208 IH (D) the Permanent Select Committee on 1 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; 2 (E) the Committee on Armed Services of 3 the Senate; 4 (F) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 5 the Senate; 6 (G) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 7 and Transportation of the Senate; and 8 (H) the Select Committee on Intelligence 9 of the Senate. 10 (2) LAUNCH SITE.—The term ‘‘launch site’’ has 11 the meaning given that term under section 50902 of 12 title 51, United States Code. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6208.IH H6208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS