[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3258 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3258

  To foster the implementation of the policy of the United States to 
         achieve 355 battle force ships as soon as practicable.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 5, 2020

  Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To foster the implementation of the policy of the United States to 
         achieve 355 battle force ships as soon as practicable.

    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 ``Securing the Homeland by Increasing 
our Power on the Seas Implementation Act'' or ``SHIPS Implementation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The 2016 Navy Force Structure Assessment (FSA) started 
        with a request to the combatant commanders to provide their 
        unconstrained desire for Navy forces in their respective 
        theaters consistent with meeting the demands of the Defense 
        Planning Scenarios. To fully resource these platform-specific 
        demands with very little risk in any theater while supporting 
        enduring missions, ongoing two operations and setting the 
        theater for prompt warfighting response, the Navy would require 
        a 653-ship force.
            (2) The 2016 Navy FSA further determined that a 355-ship 
        battle force is the level that balances an acceptable level of 
        warfighting risk to Navy equipment and personnel against 
        available resources and achieves a force size that can 
        reasonably achieve success.
            (3) On March 27, 2019, before the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate, Vice Admiral William Merz testified, 
        ``I certainly do not expect the [355-ship requirement] to go 
        any lower. I would not be surprised if it goes up in several 
        categories.''.
            (4) The Navy battle force currently consists of 293 ships.
            (5) The Navy projects having 313 battle force ships in 
        2025.
            (6) The Navy assesses the size of the People's Liberation 
        Army Navy as having surpassed that of the United States Navy 
        and predicts that it will reach 400 ships in 2025.
            (7) Section 1025 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
        for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91; 10 U.S.C. 7921 note) 
        established the policy of the United States to have available, 
        as soon as practicable, not fewer than 355 battle force ships, 
        with funding subject to the availability of appropriations or 
        other funds.
            (8) The Department of Defense has been able to achieve 
        program efficiencies and cost savings by using multiyear and 
        block buy contracting with many weapons programs. These 
        contracting strategies are currently being utilized to procure 
        Ford-class aircraft carriers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, 
        Virginia-class submarines, and John Lewis-class fleet oilers.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SECURING THE 
              HOMELAND BY INCREASING OUR POWER ON THE SEAS 
              IMPLEMENTATION ACT.

    It is the sense of Congress that to achieve the national policy of 
the United States to have available, as soon as practicable, not fewer 
than 355 battle force ships--
            (1) the Navy must be adequately resourced to increase the 
        size of the Navy in accordance with the national policy, which 
        includes the associated ships, aircraft, personnel, 
        sustainment, and munitions;
            (2) across fiscal years 2021 through 2025, the Navy should 
        start construction on not fewer than--
                    (A) 12 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers;
                    (B) 10 Virginia-class submarines;
                    (C) 2 Columbia-class submarines;
                    (D) 3 San Antonio-class amphibious ships;
                    (E) 1 LHA-class amphibious ship;
                    (F) 6 John Lewis-class fleet oilers; and
                    (G) 5 guided missile frigates;
            (3) new guided missile frigate construction should increase 
        to a rate of between two and four ships per year once design 
        maturity and construction readiness permit;
            (4) the Columbia-class submarine program should be funded 
        using the National Sea Based Deterrence Fund with funds that 
        are in addition to the Navy budget in recognition of the 
        critical single national mission that these vessels will 
        perform;
            (5) stable shipbuilding rates of construction should be 
        maintained for each vessel class, utilizing multi-year or block 
        buy contract authorities when appropriate, until a deliberate 
        transition plan is identified; and
            (6) prototyping of potential new shipboard subsystems 
        should be accelerated to build knowledge systematically, and, 
        to the maximum extent practicable, shipbuilding prototyping 
        should occur at the subsystem-level in advance of ship design.

SEC. 4. PROCUREMENT AUTHORITIES FOR CERTAIN SHIPBUILDING PROGRAMS.

    (a) Contract Authority.--
            (1) Procurement authorized.--In fiscal year 2021, the 
        Secretary of the Navy may enter into one or more contracts for 
        the procurement of any or all of the following groups of 
        vessels:
                    (A) Three San Antonio-class amphibious ships and 
                one America-class amphibious ship.
                    (B) Two Columbia-class submarines.
                    (C) Six John Lewis-class fleet oilers.
            (2) Procurement in conjunction with existing contracts.--
        The ships authorized to be procured under paragraph (1) may be 
        procured as additions to existing contracts covering such 
        programs.
    (b) Certification Required.--A contract may not be entered into 
under subsection (a) unless the Secretary of the Navy certifies to the 
congressional defense committees, in writing, not later than 30 days 
before entry into the contract, each of the following, which shall be 
prepared by the milestone decision authority for such programs:
            (1) The use of such a contract will result in significant 
        savings compared to the total anticipated costs of carrying out 
        the program through annual contracts. In certifying cost 
        savings under the preceding sentence, the Secretary shall 
        include a written explanation of--
                    (A) the estimated end cost and appropriated funds 
                by fiscal year, by hull, without the authority provided 
                in subsection (a);
                    (B) the estimated end cost and appropriated funds 
                by fiscal year, by hull, with the authority provided in 
                subsection (a);
                    (C) the estimated cost savings or increase by 
                fiscal year, by hull, with the authority provided in 
                subsection (a);
                    (D) the discrete actions that will accomplish such 
                cost savings or avoidance; and
                    (E) the contractual actions that will ensure the 
                estimated cost savings are realized.
            (2) There is a reasonable expectation that throughout the 
        contemplated contract period the Secretary of the Navy will 
        request funding for the contract at the level required to avoid 
        contract cancellation.
            (3) There is a stable design for the property to be 
        acquired and the technical risks associated with such property 
        are not excessive.
            (4) The estimates of both the cost of the contract and the 
        anticipated cost avoidance through the use of a contract 
        authorized under subsection (a) are realistic.
            (5) The use of such a contract will promote the national 
        security of the United States.
            (6) During the fiscal year in which such contract is to be 
        awarded, sufficient funds will be available to perform the 
        contract in such fiscal year, and the future-years defense 
        program (as defined under section 221 of title 10, United 
        States Code) for such fiscal year will include the funding 
        required to execute the program without cancellation.
    (c) Use of Incremental Funding.--With respect to a contract or 
contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B), the Secretary 
of the Navy may use incremental funding to make payments under the 
contract with funds appropriated to the Shipbuilding and Conversion, 
Navy or National Sea Based Deterrence Fund accounts through fiscal year 
2025.
    (d) Authority for Advance Procurement.--The Secretary of the Navy 
may enter into one or more contracts for advance procurement associated 
with a vessel or vessels for which authorization to enter into a 
multiyear procurement contract is provided under subsection (a), and 
for systems and subsystems associated with such vessels in economic 
order quantities when cost savings are achievable.
    (e) Condition for Out-Year Contract Payments.--A contract entered 
into under subsection (a) shall provide that any obligation of the 
United States to make a payment under the contract for a fiscal year is 
subject to the availability of appropriations for that purpose for such 
fiscal year.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Congressional defense committees.--The term 
        ``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
            (2) Milestone decision authority.--The term ``milestone 
        decision authority'' has the meaning given the term in section 
        2366a(d) of title 10, United States Code.
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