[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1884. Mr. ROMNEY (for himself, Mr. King, and Mrs. Shaheen) 
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 end of subtitle G of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 12__. COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON DEFENSE BUDGET TRANSPARENCY 
                   OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, THE RUSSIAN 
                   FEDERATION, AND THE UNITED STATES.

       (a) Studies Required.--
       (1) Department of defense study.--Not later than 270 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
     Defense, acting through the Director of the Defense 
     Intelligence Agency, in consultation with the Under Secretary 
     of Defense (Comptroller), the Director of the Office of Cost 
     Assessment and Program Evaluation, the Director of the Office 
     of Net Assessment, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
     Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, and the Assistant Secretary of 
     Defense for International Security Affairs, shall complete a 
     comparative study on the defense budgets of the People's 
     Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and the United 
     States.
       (2) Independent study.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
     offer to enter into an agreement with not more than two 
     entities independent of the Department to conduct a 
     comparative study on the defense budgets of the People's 
     Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and the United 
     States, to be completed not later than 270 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.
       (B) Federally funded research and development center.--Not 
     fewer than one entity described in subparagraph (A) shall be 
     a federally funded research and development center.
       (b) Goal.--The goal of the studies required by subsection 
     (a) shall be to develop a methodologically sound set of 
     assumptions to underpin a comparison of the defense spending 
     of the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, 
     and the United States.
       (c) Elements.--Each study required by subsection (a) shall 
     do the following:
       (1) Develop consistent functional categories for spending, 
     including--
       (A) defense-related research and development;
       (B) weapons procurement;
       (C) operations and maintenance; and
       (D) pay and benefits.
       (2) Consider the effects of purchasing power parity and 
     market exchange rates, particularly on nontraded goods.
       (3) Consider differences in the relative prices of goods 
     and labor within each subject country.
       (4) Compare the costs of labor and benefits for the defense 
     workforce of each subject country.
       (5) Account for discrepancies in the manner in which each 
     subject country accounts for certain functional types of 
     defense-related spending.
       (6) Explicitly estimate the magnitude of omitted spending 
     from official defense budget information.
       (7) Evaluate the adequacy of the United Nations database on 
     military expenditures.
       (8) Exclude spending related to veterans' benefits.
       (d) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which 
     the studies required by subsection (a) are completed, the 
     Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed 
     Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a 
     report on the results of each study, together with the views 
     of the Secretary on each study.
       (e) Form.--The report required by subsection (d) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
     annex.
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