[Congressional Bills 117th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4947 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4947 To establish the Defense Exportability Transfer Account. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 22, 2022 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Cramer) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To establish the Defense Exportability Transfer Account. 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 ``Defense Export Promotion Of Relevant Technology and Supplies Act'' or the ``Defense EXPORTS Act''. SEC. 2. DEFENSE EXPORTABILITY TRANSFER ACCOUNT (DETA). (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of Defense an account to be known as the ``Defense Exportability Transfer Account'' (in this section referred to as the ``Account''). (b) Amounts in Account.--The Account shall consist of-- (1) amounts appropriated to the Account; (2) amounts transferred to the Account under subsection (d); and (3) amounts credited to the Account under subsection (e). (c) Use of Funds.-- (1) In general.--Funds in the Account shall be available to develop program protection strategies for Department of Defense systems identified for possible future export, to design and incorporate exportability features into such systems during the research and development phases of such systems, and to integrate design features that enhance interoperability of such systems with those of friendly foreign countries. (2) Amounts in addition.--Amounts in the Account are in addition to any other funds available to the Department of Defense for the purposes specified in paragraph (1). (d) Transfers.-- (1) Transfers from account.--The Secretary of Defense may transfer funds from the Account to appropriations of the Department of Defense available for research, development, test, and evaluation in such amounts as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. Funds so transferred shall be available for the same time period and the same purposes as the appropriation to which transferred. (2) Transfers to account.--The Secretary may transfer funds from appropriations of the Department of Defense available for research, development, test, and evaluation to the Account in such amounts as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. Funds so transferred shall be available for the same time period and the same purposes as the appropriation to which transferred. (3) Notice and wait.--Funds may not be transferred under paragraph (1) or (2) until the expiration of 15 days after the date on which the Secretary notifies the congressional defense committees in writing of the amount and purpose of the proposed transfer. (4) Other authorities.--The authority to transfer funds under this subsection is in addition to any other transfer authority available to the Department of Defense. (e) Costs.--Costs incurred by the Department of Defense for designing and incorporating exportability features into Department of Defense systems shall be treated as nonrecurring costs under section 21(e)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761(e)(1)). Amounts collected as recoupments by the Department of Defense on foreign military sales, direct commercial sales, and sales of items developed under international cooperative projects that incorporate such exportability features shall be credited to the Account and shall remain available until expended to carry out the purposes of the Account. (f) Annual Report.--No later than January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report detailing the utilization of this fund, including-- (1) the balance of the Fund, including inlays and outlays; (2) a list of systems receiving funds under this section; (3) the projected and actual cost and schedule savings for each system receiving funds under this section; and (4) any other matters the Secretary determines appropriate. (g) Government Accountability Office Review.--Not later than five years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an assessment of the efficacy of this section, including-- (1) an emphasis on cost and schedule savings realized by the Federal Government pertaining to the delivery of articles that receive funding under this section; and (2) any other matters the Comptroller General deems appropriate. (h) Appropriations.--There is hereby appropriated to the Account $50,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That such amount is designated by Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4001(a)(1) and section 4001(b) of S. Con. Res. 14 (117th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022. <all>