[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 12, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5220-S5221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 940. Mrs. ERNST (for herself, Mr. Cotton, and Mrs. Shaheen) 
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill H.R. 
2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military 
activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and 
for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe 
military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other 
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle B of title I, add the following:

     SEC. __. INTERIM COMBAT SERVICE RIFLE.

       (a) Acquisition Authority.--The Secretary of the Army is 
     authorized to expedite acquiring a commercially available 
     off-the-shelf item, non-developmental item, or Government-
     off-the-shelf materiel solution for an Interim Combat Service 
     Rifle for purposes of defeating the evolving threat that has 
     placed the United States Armed Forces at increased risk.
       (b) Acceleration of Related Programs.--

[[Page S5221]]

       (1) In general.--To ensure a complete capability is fielded 
     simultaneously with the acquisition program authorized under 
     subsection (a), the Secretary is also authorized to use 
     funding under the program to accelerate by one year the Squad 
     Designated Marksman Rifle program and by two years the 
     Advanced Armor Piercing ammunition program.
       (2) Rule of construction.--The authority under this 
     subsection does not supersede the requirement to develop a 
     Next Generation Squad Weapon.
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