[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3396-S3397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 297. Mr. MENENDEZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction,
[[Page S3397]]
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 appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. TRANSPARENCY.
(a) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``climate
security'' means the effects of climate change on--
(1) United States national security concerns and
subnational, national, and regional political stability; and
(2) overseas security and conflict situations that are
potentially exacerbated by dynamic environmental factors and
events, including--
(A) the intensification and frequency of droughts, floods,
wildfires, tropical storms, and other extreme weather events;
(B) changes in historical severe weather, drought, and
wildfire patterns;
(C) the expansion of geographical ranges of droughts,
floods, and wildfires into regions that had not regularly
experienced such phenomena;
(D) global sea level rise patterns and the expansion of
geographical ranges affected by drought; and
(E) changes in marine environments that effect critical
geostrategic waterways, such as the Arctic Ocean, the South
China Sea, the South Pacific Ocean, the Barents Sea, and the
Beaufort Sea.
(b) In General.--Any commission, advisory panel, or
committee designated by the President to examine or evaluate
climate security shall comply with the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
(c) Whistleblower Protections.--Section 2302(b)(8)(A) of
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in clause (i), by striking ``, or'' and inserting a
semicolon;
(2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); and
(3) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
``(ii) a deliberate manipulation, misjudgment, removal, or
obfuscation of, or failure to take into account, data and
information critical to fulsome or accurate national security
assessment and planning; or''.
(d) Accessibility of Processes.--The President shall ensure
that the draft and final reports, studies, and policy
recommendations relating to climate security research that
are compiled by entities working under the direction of the
Federal Government are made available to the public.
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