[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1537 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1537

    To direct the Secretary of Defense to conduct studies regarding 
    alternative models for acquisition and funding of technologies 
                 supporting network-centric operations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2009

  Mr. Sestak introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To direct the Secretary of Defense to conduct studies regarding 
    alternative models for acquisition and funding of technologies 
                 supporting network-centric operations.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. STUDIES TO ANALYZE ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR ACQUISITION AND 
              FUNDING OF TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORTING NETWORK-CENTRIC 
              OPERATIONS.

    (a) Studies Required.--
            (1) Independent study.--Not later than 90 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
        shall enter into a contract with an independent federally 
        funded research and development center to carry out a 
        comprehensive study of policies, procedures, organization, and 
        regulatory constraints affecting the acquisition of 
        technologies supporting network-centric operations. The 
        contract shall be funded from amounts appropriated pursuant to 
        an authorization of appropriations in this Act or otherwise 
        made available for fiscal year 2010 for operation and 
        maintenance for Defense-wide activities.
            (2) Joint chiefs of staff study.--The Chairman of the Joint 
        Chiefs of Staff shall carry out a comprehensive study of the 
        same subjects covered by paragraph (1). The study shall be 
        independent of the study required by paragraph (1) and shall be 
        carried out in conjunction with the military departments and in 
        coordination with the Secretary of Defense.
    (b) Matters To Be Addressed.--Each study required by subsection (a) 
shall address the following matters:
            (1) Development of a system for understanding the various 
        foundational components that contribute to network-centric 
        operations, such as data transport, processing, storage, data 
        collection, and dissemination of information.
            (2) Determining how acquisition and funding programs that 
        are in place as of the date of the enactment of this Act relate 
        to the system developed under paragraph (1).
            (3) Development of acquisition and funding models using the 
        system developed under paragraph (1), including--
                    (A) a model under which a joint entity independent 
                of any military department (such as the Joint Staff) is 
                established with responsibility and control of all 
                funding for the acquisition of technologies for 
                network-centric operations, and with authority to 
                oversee the incorporation of such technologies into the 
                acquisition programs of the military departments;
                    (B) a model under which an executive agent is 
                established to manage and oversee the acquisition of 
                technologies for network-centric operations, but would 
                not have exclusive control of the funding for such 
                programs;
                    (C) a model under which the acquisition and funding 
                programs that are in place as of the date of the 
                enactment of this Act are maintained; and
                    (D) any other model that the entity carrying out 
                the study considers relevant.
            (4) An analysis of each of the models developed under 
        paragraph (3) with respect to potential benefits in--
                    (A) collecting, processing, and disseminating 
                information;
                    (B) network commonality;
                    (C) common communications;
                    (D) interoperability;
                    (E) mission impact and success; and
                    (F) cost-effectiveness.
            (5) An evaluation of each of the models developed under 
        paragraph (3) with respect to feasibility, including 
        identification of legal, policy, or regulatory barriers that 
        may impede the implementation of such model.
    (c) Report Required.--Not later than September 30, 2010, the 
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 
committees a report on the results of the studies required by 
subsection (a). The report shall include the findings and 
recommendations of the studies and any observations and comments that 
the Secretary considers appropriate.
    (d) Network-Centric Operations Defined.--In this section, the term 
``network-centric operations'' refers to the ability to exploit all 
human and technical elements of the Joint Force and mission partners 
through the full integration of collected information, awareness, 
knowledge, experience, and decisionmaking, enabled by secure access and 
distribution, all to achieve agility and effectiveness in a dispersed, 
decentralized, dynamic, or uncertain operational environment.
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