[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1649 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1649

 To authorize the Secretary of Defense to enter into partnerships with 
 Israel and other allies of the United States to develop technology to 
                detect tunnels, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2015

 Mr. Lamborn introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on 
   Foreign Affairs and Select Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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 authorize the Secretary of Defense to enter into partnerships with 
 Israel and other allies of the United States to develop technology to 
                detect tunnels, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Partnering to Detect and Defeat 
Tunnels Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Tunnels have been used for centuries around the world 
        as a means of avoiding detection or circumventing defenses.
            (2) Tunnels can be used for criminal purposes, such as 
        smuggling drugs, weapons, or humans, or for terrorist or 
        military purposes, such as launching surprise attacks or 
        detonating explosives underneath infrastructure.
            (3) Tunnels have been a growing threat on the southern 
        border of the United States for many years, and the Department 
        of Homeland Security has been working to address this threat.
            (4) The conflict in Gaza in 2014 showed that terrorists are 
        now actively using tunnels as a means of attack, and news 
        reports indicate that tunnels are being used in Syria as well.
            (5) Terrorist organizations are quick to adopt successful 
        tactics, and it is only a matter of time before other terrorist 
        organizations begin using tunnels.
            (6) The facilities of the United States, and those of the 
        allies of the United States, could be under threat very quickly 
        if tunnel threats continue to proliferate.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) it is in the best interests of the United States to 
        develop technology to detect and counter tunnels, and the best 
        way to do this is to partner with other affected countries; and
            (2) Israel is facing serious threats posed by tunnels and 
        should be the first partner of the United States in addressing 
        this significant challenge.

SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF TUNNEL DETECTION TECHNOLOGY.

    (a) Partnerships.--
            (1) Israel.--The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with 
        the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        shall seek to enter into an agreement with Israel to partner 
        and coordinate in developing and deploying technologies to 
        detect and counter tunnels, including by--
                    (A) carrying out research, development, testing, 
                and evaluation activities with respect to tunnel 
                detection technologies; and
                    (B) carrying out operational testing of such 
                technologies in both the United States and Israel.
            (2) Other allies.--In addition to the agreement described 
        in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense, in coordination 
        with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security, may seek to enter into similar agreements with allies 
        of the United States to develop technologies to detect and 
        counter tunnels.
    (b) Lead Development Agency.--The Secretary of Defense, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall designate a 
military department or other element of the Department of Defense to 
carry out subsection (a) as the lead agency of the Federal Government 
for developing technology to detect and counter tunnels.
    (c) Lead Intelligence Officer.--The Director of National 
Intelligence shall designate a senior intelligence officer to manage 
the collection and analysis of intelligence regarding the tactical use 
of tunnels by state and non-state actors.
    (d) Annual Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter through 2020, the 
Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report containing, with 
respect to the period covered by each such report, the following:
            (1) Instances of tunnels being used to attack installations 
        of the United States or allies of the United States.
            (2) Trends or developments in tunnel attacks throughout the 
        world.
            (3) Key technologies used and challenges faced by potential 
        adversaries of the United States with respect to using tunnels.
            (4) The capabilities of the Department of Defense for 
        defending fixed or forward locations from tunnel attacks.
            (5) Partnerships entered into with allies of the United 
        States under this section, and potential opportunities for 
        increased partnerships with other allies with respect to 
        researching tunnel detection technologies.
            (6) The plans, including with respect to funding, of the 
        Secretary for countering threats posed by tunnels.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2016, to carry 
out this section there is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 
2016--
            (1) for research, development, test, and evaluation, Army, 
        for sensors and electronic survivability, $5,000,000;
            (2) for research, development, test, and evaluation, 
        Defense-wide, for the physical security program of the 
        Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, $8,000,000; and
            (3) for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund, 
        $10,000,000.
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