[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4720 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4720

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the Assistant 
        Secretary of Defense for Space, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2019

    Mr. Green of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the Assistant 
        Secretary of Defense for Space, 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. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR SPACE.

    (a) Establishment of Position.--Section 138(b) of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(5) One of the Assistant Secretaries is the Assistant Secretary 
of Defense for Space. The Assistant Secretary shall have as the 
Assistant Secretary's principal duty the overall supervision (including 
oversight of policy and resources) of space activities of the 
Department of Defense. The Assistant Secretary is the principal 
civilian adviser to the Secretary of Defense on space operations and 
space conflict matters and (after the Secretary and the Deputy 
Secretary of Defense) is the principal space official within the senior 
management of the Department of Defense. Subject to the authority, 
direction, and control of the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary shall 
do the following:
            ``(A) Exercise authority, direction, and control of all 
        space administrative matters relating to the organization, 
        training, and equipping of space forces.
            ``(B) Assist the Secretary in the development and 
        supervision of policy, program planning and execution, and 
        allocation and use of resources for the activities of the 
        Department of Defense for the following:
                    ``(i) Space operations, defending national security 
                assets in space, and the other space activities of the 
                Department.
                    ``(ii) Integration of the activities of the 
                Department to most efficiently and effectively provide 
                for space-related activities.
            ``(C) Perform such additional duties as the Secretary may 
        prescribe.''.
    (b) Plan on Acquisition System for Defense Space Resources.--
            (1) Plan required.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of the appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the 
        Senate, of the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space 
        appointed after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space shall submit to the 
        congressional defense committees a plan to establish a 
        separate, alternative acquisition system for defense space 
        resources, including for acquisitions with respect to space 
        vehicles, ground segments relating to such vehicles, and 
        satellite terminals.
            (2) Scope.--The plan required by paragraph (1) shall cover 
        acquisitions of defense space resources for the Department of 
        Defense, other than resources for the National Reconnaissance 
        Office and other elements of the Department that are elements 
        of the intelligence community (as defined in section 3 of the 
        National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)).
            (3) Elements.--The plan required by paragraph (1) shall 
        include recommendations on whether the alternative acquisition 
        system covered by the plan should use the Joint Capabilities 
        Integration and Development System process or another 
        requirements process that is developed by the Assistant 
        Secretary for purposes of the plan.
            (4) Congressional defense committees defined.--In this 
        subsection, the term ``congressional defense committees'' has 
        the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, 
        United States Code.
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