[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2138. Mr. CRUZ 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 in title XVI, insert the 
     following:

     SEC. ___. LEVERAGING COMMERCIAL SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING.

       (a) In General.--In acquiring geospatial-intelligence, the 
     Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of 
     the National Reconnaissance Office and the Director of the 
     National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, shall leverage, to 
     the maximum extent practicable, the capabilities of United 
     States industry, including through the use of commercial 
     geospatial-intelligence services and acquisition of 
     commercial satellite imagery.
       (b) Obtaining Future Geospatial-intelligence Data.--The 
     Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, as part of an 
     analysis of alternatives for the future acquisition of space 
     systems for geospatial-intelligence, shall--
       (1) consider whether there is a suitable, cost-effective, 
     commercial capability available that can meet any or all of 
     the geospatial-intelligence requirements of the Department 
     and the intelligence community;
       (2) if a suitable, cost-effective, commercial capability is 
     available as described in paragraph (1), determine whether it 
     is in the national interest to develop a governmental space 
     system for geospatial intelligence; and
       (3) include, as part of the established acquisition 
     reporting requirements to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress, any determination made under paragraphs (1) and 
     (2).
       (c) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) The term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
       (A) the congressional defense committees;
       (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
       (C) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
     House of Representatives.
       (2) The term ``intelligence community'' has the meaning 
     given such term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 
     1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).
                                 ______