[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 119 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2235. Mr. ROUNDS 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 F of title VIII, add the following:
SEC. 884. PILOT PROGRAM EXPLORING THE USE OF CONSUMPTION-
BASED SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS SOFTWARE-INTENSIVE
WARFIGHTING CAPABILITY.
(a) Finding.--In its final report, the Section 809 Panel
recommended the adoption of consumption-based approaches at
the Department of Defense, stating, ``More things will be
sold as a service in the future. XaaS could really mean
everything in the context of the Internet of things (IoT).
Consumption-based solutions are appearing in many industry
sectors, from last mile transportation (e.g., bike shares and
electric scooters) to agriculture (e.g., tractor-as-a-service
for farmers in developing countries). Most smart phone users
are familiar with software updates that provide bug fixes or
new features. A more extreme example of technology innovation
enabled by the IoT is the ability to deliver physical
performance improvements to vehicles through over-the-air
software updates. . . In the not-so-distant future, cloud
computing and the IoT will enable consumption-based solution
offerings and delivery models that are hard to imagine
today.''
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress--
(1) that the Department of Defense should take advantage of
``as-a-service'' or ``aaS'' approaches in commercial
capability development, particularly where the capability is
software-defined, and cloud-enabled;
(2) to support the Department of Defense's commitment to
new approaches to development and acquisition of software;
(3) that the Department should explore a variety of
approaches, to include the use of consumption-based solutions
for software-intensive warfighting capability; and
(4) that, in conducting activities under the pilot program
established under this program, the Department should use the
Software pathway under the new Adaptive Acquisition
Framework.
(c) In General.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Secretary of Defense is authorized to
establish a pilot program to explore the use of consumption-
based solutions to address software-intensive warfighting
capability.
(d) Selection of Initiatives.--The Secretary of each
military department and the commander of each combatant
command with acquisition authority shall propose for
selection by the Secretary of Defense for the pilot program
at least one and not more than three initiatives that are
well-suited to explore consumption-based solutions to address
software-intensive warfighting capability. The initiatives
may be new or existing programs of record and shall focus on
software-defined or machine-enabled warfighting applications,
and may include applications that--
(1) rapidly analyze sensor data;
(2) secure warfighter networks, including multi-level
security;
(3) swiftly transport information across various networks
and network modalities; or
(4) otherwise enable joint all-domain operational concepts,
including in a contested environment.
(e) Contract Requirements.--Contracts for consumption-based
solutions entered into pursuant to the pilot program shall
provide for--
(1) the solution to be measurable on a frequent interval
customary for the type of solution;
(2) the contractor to notify the government when
consumption reaches 75 percent and 90 percent of the contract
funded amount; and
(3) discretion for the contracting officer to add new
features or capabilities without additional competition for
the contract, provided that the amount of the new features or
capabilities does not exceed 25 percent of the total contract
value.
(f) Duration of Initiatives.--Each initiative carried out
under the pilot program shall be carried out during the
three-year period following selection of the initiative.
(g) Monitoring and Evaluation of Pilot Program.--The
Director of the Office of Cost Assessment and Program
Evaluation shall establish continuous monitoring to evaluate
the pilot program established under subsection (c), including
collecting data on cost, schedule, and performance from the
program office, the user community, and the contractors.
(h) Reports.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than January 31, 2021, the
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional
defense committees a report on initiatives selected for the
pilot program, roles and responsibilities for implementing
the pilot program, and the monitoring and evaluation approach
for the pilot.
(2) Progress report.--Not later than April 15, 2021, the
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional
defense committees a report on the progress of the
initiatives.
(3) Final report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the congressional defense committees a report on
the cost, schedule, and performance outcomes of the
initiatives. The report shall also include lessons learned
about the use of consumption-based solutions for software-
intensive capabilities and any recommendations for statutory
or regulatory changes to facilitate their use.
(i) Consumption-based Solution Defined.--In this section,
the term ``consumption-based solution'' means any combination
of software, hardware or equipment, and labor or services
that provides a seamless capability that is metered and
billed based on actual usage and predetermined pricing per
resource unit, and includes the ability to rapidly scale
capacity up or down.
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