United States-Israel Military Capability Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3775 To establish a United States-Israel Operations-Technology Working Group, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2020 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To establish a United States-Israel Operations-Technology Working Group, 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 ‘‘United States-Israel 4 Military Capability Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The United States confronts an intense 8 military technology competition with the People’s 9 Republic of China and the Russian Federation that 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3775 IS may determine whether the United States can effec- 1 tively deter and defeat adversaries in the future. 2 (2) On July 11, 2019, Chairman of the Joint 3 Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, ‘‘China is 4 improving their military very, very rapidly in space, 5 air, cyber, maritime, land domains, et cetera.’’. Not- 6 ing the rapid technology development by the People’s 7 Republic of China, General Milley warned that the 8 United States must ensure ‘‘that we do not lose our 9 advantages that we have relative to other countries, 10 specifically relative to China.’’. 11 (3) The People’s Republic of China and the 12 Russian Federation have already developed or field- 13 ed some capabilities in areas such as hypersonics 14 and artificial intelligence that are superior to those 15 of the United States. 16 (4) A closer and more systematic early coopera- 17 tive research and development effort with select al- 18 lies may help the United States more quickly and in- 19 expensively restore and sustain military supremacy 20 in critical military capabilities. 21 (5) The innovative and agile defense technology 22 sector of Israel and the status of Israel as one of the 23 closest and most reliable allies of the United States 24 make Israel an ideal candidate for a more systematic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3775 IS and institutionalized partnership with the United 1 States focused on early cooperative research and de- 2 velopment. 3 (6) The defense innovation sector of Israel is a 4 global leader in many of the technologies important 5 to Department of Defense modernization efforts. 6 (7) Despite many laudable ongoing defense 7 partnership efforts between the United States and 8 Israel, dangerous United States military capability 9 gaps continue to emerge that a more systematic and 10 institutionalized United States-Israel early coopera- 11 tive research and development program could have 12 prevented. 13 (8) Such a program would allow the United 14 States to benefit from the innovation agility and 15 sense of urgency of Israel, and Israel would benefit 16 from the economy of scale of the United States. 17 Such a program could be carefully designed to re- 18 duce the time and cost associated with research and 19 development, assiduously avoiding anything that 20 would slow down or constrain the research and de- 21 velopment of either country. 22 (9) Belatedly acquiring already produced equip- 23 ment or weapons from Israel to fill a United States 24 capability gap is not a substitute for a systematic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3775 IS program that prevents the capability gap from 1 emerging in the first place. 2 (10) On March 4, 2020, Secretary of Defense 3 Mark Esper said, ‘‘We have a very good innovative 4 base, [the Israelis] have a very good innovative base. 5 And I think the more we can cooperate together as 6 allies and partners to come up with common solu- 7 tions, the better.’’. Secretary Esper continued, ‘‘so I 8 think if there are ways to improve that, we should 9 pursue it.’’. 10 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 11 It is the sense of Congress that— 12 (1) the United States Government has a re- 13 sponsibility to undertake all reasonable measures to 14 ensure that members of the Armed Forces never 15 confront a more technologically advanced foe; and 16 (2) building on positive ongoing efforts, the 17 United States and Israel should further institu- 18 tionalize and strengthen their defense innovation 19 partnership by establishing a United States-Israel 20 Operations-Technology Working Group to identify 21 and expeditiously field capabilities that the military 22 forces of both countries need to deter and defeat re- 23 spective adversaries. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3775 IS SEC. 4. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL OPERATIONS-TECHNOLOGY 1 WORKING GROUP. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De- 4 fense, with the concurrence of the Minister of Defense of 5 Israel and in consultation with the Secretary of State and 6 the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a 7 United States-Israel Operations-Technology Working 8 Group (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’) 9 for the following purposes: 10 (1) To provide a standing forum for the United 11 States and Israel to systematically share intel- 12 ligence-informed military capability requirements. 13 (2) To identify military capability requirements 14 common to both the Department of Defense and the 15 Ministry of Defense of Israel. 16 (3) To assist defense suppliers in the United 17 States and Israel with efforts to expeditiously gain 18 government approval to conduct joint science, tech- 19 nology, research, development, test, evaluation, and 20 production efforts. 21 (4) To develop, as feasible and advisable, com- 22 bined United States-Israel plans to research, de- 23 velop, procure, and field weapons systems and mili- 24 tary capabilities as quickly and economically as pos- 25 sible to meet common capability requirements of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3775 IS Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defense 1 of Israel. 2 (b) WORKING GROUP LEADERSHIP.— 3 (1) UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP.—With re- 4 spect to the United States, the Working Group shall 5 be headed by the Under Secretary of Defense for 6 Research and Engineering and the Director of the 7 Joint Staff, with the active support of the Director 8 of the Bureau of Political Military Affairs of the De- 9 partment of State and the Director of National In- 10 telligence. 11 (2) ISRAEL LEADERSHIP.—The Secretary of 12 Defense shall invite the Government of Israel to des- 13 ignate the head of the appropriate office or offices 14 to head the Working Group with respect to Israel. 15 (c) WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP.— 16 (1) UNITED STATES MEMBERSHIP.—The Sec- 17 retary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the 18 Director of National Intelligence shall each des- 19 ignate one or more individuals to serve as members 20 of the Working Group. 21 (A) MANDATORY UNITED STATES MEM- 22 BERS.—The membership of the Working Group 23 shall consist of, at a minimum, representatives 24 from— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3775 IS (i) the Office of the Secretary of De- 1 fense; 2 (ii) the Joint Staff; 3 (iii) each of the military departments 4 (including, as appropriate, subordinate en- 5 tities such as Army Futures Command and 6 research laboratories); 7 (iv) the defense agencies (including 8 the Defense Advanced Research Projects 9 Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, 10 and the Defense Security Cooperation 11 Agency); 12 (v) United States Central Command; 13 (vi) United States European Com- 14 mand; 15 (vii) United States Indo-Pacific Com- 16 mand; 17 (viii) the Department of State; and 18 (ix) the intelligence community. 19 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 20 this paragraph shall be construed as limiting 21 the ability of the Secretary of Defense, the Sec- 22 retary of State, or the Director of National In- 23 telligence to add members to the Working 24 Group as considered appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3775 IS (2) ISRAEL MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary of 1 Defense, the Secretary of State, and the Director of 2 National Intelligence shall invite their counterparts 3 in the Government of Israel to designate individuals 4 from the Government of Israel to serve as members 5 of the Working Group. 6 (3) REPRESENTATION OF DEFENSE INDUS- 7 TRY.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 9 may incorporate recommendations from the de- 10 fense industries of the United States and Israel 11 with respect to combined science and technology 12 efforts and combined research, development, 13 test, and evaluation efforts. 14 (B) INCLUSION IN WORKING GROUP.—The 15 membership of the Working Group may include, 16 as appropriate, members of the defense indus- 17 tries of the United States and Israel. 18 (d) EXISTING EFFORTS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, 20 the Secretary of State, and the Director of National 21 Intelligence shall jointly determine the most efficient 22 and effective means to integrate the Working Group 23 into existing United States science and technology 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3775 IS efforts and research, development, test, and evalua- 1 tion efforts with Israel. 2 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 3 Act shall be construed as requiring the termination 4 of any existing United States defense activity, group, 5 program, or partnership with Israel. 6 (e) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 8 shall, with the concurrence of the Minister of De- 9 fense of Israel, establish a memorandum of under- 10 standing between the United States and Israel es- 11 tablishing the United States-Israel Operations Tech- 12 nology Working Group. 13 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The memo- 14 randum of understanding under paragraph (1) shall 15 set forth— 16 (A) the purposes of the Working Group, 17 consistent with subsection (a); 18 (B) the membership of the Working 19 Group, consistent with subsection (c); and 20 (C) any other matter considered appro- 21 priate. 22 (f) REPORTS.— 23 (1) INITIAL REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3775 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 2 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 3 Secretary of State and the Director of National 4 Intelligence, shall submit to the appropriate 5 committees of Congress an initial report on the 6 Working Group. 7 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 8 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 9 (i) The finalized memorandum of un- 10 derstanding under subsection (e). 11 (ii) The name of each individual of 12 the Government of the United States and 13 of the Government of Israel designated to 14 lead the Working Group. 15 (iii) The name of each member of the 16 Working Group designated under para- 17 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (c). 18 (iv) A description of the manner in 19 which the Working Group is anticipated to 20 complement and augment existing science 21 and technology efforts and research, devel- 22 opment, test, and evaluation efforts with 23 Israel. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3775 IS (v) A schedule for Working Group 1 meetings. 2 (vi) A description of key metrics and 3 milestones for the Working Group. 4 (vii) A description of any authority or 5 authorization of appropriations required 6 for the Working Group to carry out the 7 purposes described in subsection (a). 8 (C) FORM.—The report required by sub- 9 paragraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassi- 10 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 11 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 13 15 of each year following the submittal of the 14 report required by paragraph (1), the Secretary 15 of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary 16 of State and the Director of National Intel- 17 ligence, shall submit to the appropriate commit- 18 tees of Congress a report on the activities of the 19 Working Group during the preceding calendar 20 year. 21 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 22 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 23 (i) A summary of the performance of 24 the Working Group relative to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3775 IS (I) with respect to the first an- 1 nual report under this paragraph, the 2 metrics and milestones described in 3 the initial report in accordance with in 4 paragraph (1)(B)(vi); or 5 (II) with respect to each subse- 6 quent annual report under this para- 7 graph, the metrics and milestones de- 8 scribed in the preceding annual report 9 under clause (viii). 10 (ii) A description of military capabili- 11 ties needed by both the United States and 12 Israel. 13 (iii) A description of any United 14 States, or any United States-Israel, science 15 and technology efforts, or research, devel- 16 opment, test, and evaluation efforts, asso- 17 ciated with the military capabilities de- 18 scribed under clause (ii) carried out during 19 the reporting period. 20 (iv) A description of any obstacle or 21 challenge associated with an effort de- 22 scribed in clause (iii) and the plan of the 23 Working Group to address such obstacle or 24 challenge. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jun 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3775.IS S3775 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3775 IS (v) A description of any re [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]