[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 24, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3231-S3232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1708. Mr. WHITEHOUSE submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed by him to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for
fiscal year 2021 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 appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. MARITIME SECURITY AND DOMAIN AWARENESS.
(a) Progress Report on Maritime Security.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in
coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, and the
heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall submit to
the congressional defense committees a report on the steps
taken since December 20, 2019, to make further use of the
following mechanisms to combat IUU fishing:
(A) Inclusion of counter-IUU fishing in existing shiprider
agreements to which the United States is a party.
(B) Entry into shiprider agreements that include counter-
IUU fishing with priority flag states and countries in
priority regions with which the United States does not
already have such agreements.
(C) Inclusion of counter-IUU fishing in the mission of the
Combined Maritime Forces.
(D) Inclusion of counter-IUU fishing exercises in the
annual at-sea exercises conducted by the Department of
Defense, in coordination with the United States Coast Guard.
(E) Development of partnerships similar to the Oceania
Maritime Security Initiative and the Africa Maritime Law
Enforcement Partnership in other priority regions.
(2) Element.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include a description of specific steps taken by the
Secretary of the Navy with respect to each mechanism
described in paragraph (1), including a detailed description
of any security cooperation engagement undertaken to combat
IUU fishing
[[Page S3232]]
by such mechanisms and resulting coordination between the
Department of the Navy and the Coast Guard.
(b) Assessment of Service Coordination on Maritime Domain
Awareness.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall
enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the department
in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with
the Secretary of Commerce, to assess the available commercial
solutions for collecting, sharing, and disseminating among
United States maritime services and partner countries
maritime domain awareness information relating to illegal
maritime activities, including IUU fishing.
(2) Elements.--The assessment carried out pursuant to an
agreement under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) build on the ongoing Coast Guard assessment related to
autonomous vehicles;
(B) consider appropriate commercially and academically
available technological solutions; and
(C) consider any limitation related to affordability,
exportability, maintenance, and sustainment requirements and
any other factor that may constrain the suitability of such
solutions for use in a joint and combined environment,
including the potential provision of such solutions to one or
more partner countries.
(3) Submittal to congress.--Not later than one year after
entering into an agreement under paragraph (1), the Secretary
of the Navy shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services,
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the
Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Natural
Resources, the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives the assessment prepared in
accordance with the agreement.
(c) Report on Use of Fishing Fleets by Foreign
Governments.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of
Naval Intelligence shall submit to the Committee on Armed
Services, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate and the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Natural Resources, the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives a report on the use by governments
of foreign countries of distant-water fishing fleets as
extensions of the official maritime security forces of such
countries.
(2) Element.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) An analysis of the manner in which fishing fleets are
leveraged in support of the naval operations and policies of
foreign countries more generally.
(B) A consideration of--
(i) threats posed, on a country-by-country basis, to the
fishing vessels and other vessels of the United States and
partner countries;
(ii) risks to Navy and Coast Guard operations of the United
States, and the naval and coast guard operations of partner
countries; and
(iii) the broader challenge to the interests of the United
States and partner countries.
(3) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be in
unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(d) Definitions.--In this section, any term that is also
used in the Maritime SAFE Act (Public Law 116-92) shall have
the meaning given such term in that Act.
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