[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6444 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6444

To accelerate the identification of solutions to the challenges of the 
 Joint Force by assigning to specific components of the Department of 
    Defense certain responsibilities for the delivery of essential 
   integrated joint warfighting capabilities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To accelerate the identification of solutions to the challenges of the 
 Joint Force by assigning to specific components of the Department of 
    Defense certain responsibilities for the delivery of essential 
   integrated joint warfighting capabilities, 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 ``JADC2 Implementation Act''.

SEC. 2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR COMPONENTS OF OFFICE OF 
              SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR JOINT ALL-DOMAIN COMMAND AND 
              CONTROL IN SUPPORT OF INTEGRATED JOINT WARFIGHTING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish the roles 
and responsibilities of components of the Office of the Secretary of 
Defense for development and delivery to combatant commands of 
capabilities that are essential to integrated joint warfighting 
capabilities, as follows:
            (1) The Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Mission 
        Capabilities of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense 
        for Research and Engineering (in this section referred to as 
        the ``Deputy Chief'') shall be responsible for--
                    (A) identifying new technology and operational 
                concepts for experimentation and prototyping for 
                delivery to the Joint Force to address key operational 
                challenges;
                    (B) providing technical support for the Joint Force 
                in exploring and analyzing new capabilities, 
                operational concepts, and systems-of-systems 
                composition, including through advanced modeling and 
                simulation; and
                    (C) executing associated experimentation, through 
                the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER) or 
                another mechanism.
            (2) The Executive Director for Acquisition, Integration, 
        and Interoperability of the Office of the Under Secretary of 
        Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall be responsible 
        for--
                    (A) enabling the acquisition of cross-domain, 
                joint, and cross-system kill chains and mission 
                capabilities, including resourcing of modifications 
                necessary for integration and interoperability among 
                kill chain and mission components; and
                    (B) ensuring the effectiveness of cross-domain, 
                joint, and cross-system kill chains and mission 
                capabilities through analysis and testing.
            (3) The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer 
        shall be responsible for creating and operating a factory-based 
        approach for software development that allows for iterative, 
        secure, and continuous deployment of developmental, prototype, 
        and operational tools and capabilities from multiple vendors to 
        test networks and operational networks for combatant commanders 
        to--
                    (A) gain operational awareness, make decisions, and 
                take actions;
                    (B) integrate relevant data sources to support 
                target selection, target prioritization, and weapon-
                target pairing; and
                    (C) prosecute targets through military service and 
                combat support agency networks, tools, and systems.
    (b) Additional Deputy Chief Authorities.--
            (1) In general.--The Deputy Chief may exercise the 
        authorities described in paragraph (2) in accordance with this 
        subsection to carry out the responsibilities of the Deputy 
        Chief described in subsection (a)(1).
            (2) Authorities described.--The authorities described in 
        this paragraph are--
                    (A) the authority to enter contracts to acquire 
                goods and services; and
                    (B) except as otherwise provided by this 
                subsection, the authority to appoint, prescribe rates 
                of pay for, and provide additional pay to highly 
                qualified experts.
            (3) Acquisition authority.--The laws and regulations 
        applicable to acquisitions of goods and services by the 
        Secretary of Defense shall apply to the acquisition of goods 
        and services by the Deputy Chief pursuant to paragraph (2)(A).
            (4) Hiring authorities.--
                    (A) Appointment limits.--When exercising the 
                authority described in paragraph (2)(B), the Deputy 
                Chief may--
                            (i) appoint only individuals with 
                        demonstrated expertise in the development, 
                        testing, production, and delivery or 
                        integration of modular systems and major system 
                        components (as defined in section 4401(b) of 
                        title 10, United States Code), including 
                        autonomous vehicles, advanced sensors and radio 
                        systems, and software systems; and
                            (ii) appoint individuals to not more than 
                        12 positions as program managers in the Office 
                        of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research 
                        and Engineering.
                    (B) Term extension.--The Deputy Chief may extend 
                the period which an employee appointed pursuant to 
                paragraph (2)(B) may serve by up to seven additional 
                years.
                    (C) Excepted service positions.--Each position to 
                which the Deputy Chief may appoint an individual 
                pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) shall be in the excepted 
                service.
    (c) Coordination.--The officials referred to in paragraphs (1), 
(2), and (3) of subsection (a) shall coordinate and align their plans 
and activities to implement subsection (a) among themselves and with 
the combatant commanders.
    (d) Initial Prioritization.--In developing an initial set of 
capabilities described in subsection (a), the officials referred to in 
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of that subsection shall prioritize the 
requirements of the United States Indo-Pacific Command.
    (e) Briefings Required.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter through 
December 31, 2026, the officials referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), 
and (3) of subsection (a) shall provide briefings to the congressional 
defense committees on their plans and activities to implement 
subsection (a).
    (f) Report Required.--Not later than March 1, 2024, the Chief Data 
and Artificial Intelligence Officer, in consultation with the Deputy 
Chief and the Executive Director for Acquisition, Integration, and 
Interoperability of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Acquisition and Sustainment, shall submit to the congressional defense 
committees a report that includes--
            (1) a plan and associated timelines for deploying and 
        demonstrating a joint data integration layer prototype in the 
        United States Indo-Pacific Command area of operations;
            (2) a plan and associated timelines for transitioning such 
        a prototype, upon its successful demonstration, to fielding as 
        soon as practicable given the urgent need for a joint all-
        domain command and control (commonly referred to as ``JADC2'') 
        capability;
            (3) a plan and associated timelines for reaching initial 
        operational capability for a joint data integration layer 
        within the United States Indo-Pacific Command area of 
        operations;
            (4) a plan and associated timelines for scaling that 
        capability to future areas of operation across the combatant 
        commands;
            (5) an assessment of the required type and number of 
        personnel at the United States Indo-Pacific Command to enable 
        sustained growth in JADC2 capabilities; and
            (6) a plan and associated timelines for--
                    (A) identifying specific critical effects chains 
                necessary to overcome anti-access and area denial 
                capabilities and offensive military operations of 
                foreign adversaries; and
                    (B) creating, demonstrating, deploying, and 
                sustaining such chains.
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