[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S3711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2740. Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Gardner) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 5515, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 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. 112. REPORT ON BENEFITS OF MULTIYEAR PROCUREMENT 
                   AUTHORITY FOR ARMY BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM 
                   PLATFORMS (ABCT).

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
       (1) There have been concerns with the Army's strategy and 
     timeline to modernize its Armored Brigade Combat Teams 
     (referred to in this section as the ``ABCT''). These concerns 
     include the modernization rate of ABCT combat vehicle 
     platforms, such as Bradley and Abrams, being too slow and not 
     keeping pace with modernization efforts of peer competitors. 
     As a result, the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate 
     took action in the National Defense Authorization Act for 
     FY2018 (Public Law 115-91) to increase modernization to a 
     rate of approximately 1.5 brigades per year for certain 
     platforms.
       (2) The Army's budget request for fiscal year 2019 is 
     encouraging and builds on the previous year's momentum by 
     proposing continued modernization at a rate of approximately 
     1.5 brigades per year. Given this increased investment for 
     ABCT modernization, the Army should examine the cost benefits 
     of using multiyear procurement contracts for all ABCT 
     platforms.
       (3) The Senate supports the Army's plan to pursue a Next 
     Generation Combat Vehicle (referred to in this section as the 
     ``NGCV'') and encourages further acceleration of the NGCV 
     development effort. With an accelerated program timeline, 
     significant time is required to successfully develop, test, 
     build, and fully field a new NGCV vehicle. As a result, the 
     Senate supports the Army's decision to pursue the Bradley A4 
     upgrade program as a bridge to NGCV.
       (4) Section 809 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for FY2016 (Public Law 114-92) established the Advisory Panel 
     on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Regulations in 
     order to advise Congress on ways to improve the Department of 
     Defense's acquisition processes. In its May 2017 Interim 
     Report, the panel concluded, ``If the Army acquired [ABCT] 
     vehicles at the rate of two brigades annually, however, the 
     production efficiencies would save approximately $11 billion 
     during the life of the program.''.
       (b) Report Required.--Not later than December 1, 2018, the 
     Secretary of the Army shall submit to the congressional 
     defense committees a report on the benefits of multiyear 
     procurement contracts for all Army Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) 
     platforms, including a detailed cost-benefit analysis and an 
     examination of the costs and benefits of further increasing 
     modernization to two brigades per year.
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