[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 478. Mr. LUJAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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:
In subtitle D of title XXXI of division C, add at the end
the following:
SEC. 31__. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES-ISRAEL DESALINATION
COMMISSION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination
with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior,
and the Secretary of State, shall establish a bilateral
cooperative commission (referred to in this section as the
``commission'') with Israel to coordinate and support the
research and development of desalination technologies.
(b) Coordination.--The commission shall coordinate with the
U.S.-Israel Energy Center, the Israel-U.S. Binational
Industrial Research and Development Foundation, and other
relevant entities, as determined appropriate by the
commission.
(c) Meetings.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the commission shall convene the first
meeting and meet quarterly thereafter.
(d) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which
the commission convenes the first meeting, the commission
shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the
commission in coordinating, encouraging, and elevating
desalination innovation, including the economic and
environmental efficiency of the desalination technological
process--
(1) to create a sustainable source of fresh water for the
United States and Israel; and
(2) to minimize the risk of conflict based on access to
fresh water.
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