[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4579-S4580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2256. Mrs. BLACKBURN submitted an amendment intended to be 
proposed by her to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal year 2025 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 II, insert the following:

     SEC. _____. MEASURES TO ADVANCE QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE 
                   WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

       (a) Strategic Plan.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall develop a 
     strategic plan to guide the research, development, test and 
     evaluation,

[[Page S4580]]

     procurement, and implementation of quantum information 
     science technologies within the Department of Defense, 
     including the covered Armed Forces, over the period of five 
     years following the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (2) Elements.--The plan required under paragraph (1) shall 
     include the following:
       (A) Identification of--
       (i) quantum information science technologies that have the 
     potential to solve operational challenges faced by the 
     Department of Defense; and
       (ii) the technology readiness levels of those quantum 
     information science technologies.
       (B) Plans to transition technologies identified under 
     subparagraph (A) from the research, development, and 
     prototyping phases into operational use within the 
     Department.
       (C) Plans for allocating the resources of the Department to 
     ensure such resources are focused on quantum information 
     science technologies with the potential to solve operational 
     challenges as identified under subparagraph (A).
       (D) Plans for the continuous evaluation, development, and 
     implementation of quantum information science technology 
     solutions within the Department.
       (E) Plans for the development, review, performance 
     evaluation, and adoption of a fault-tolerant, utility-scale 
     quantum computer and the transition of that capability to 
     appropriate organizations and elements of the Department of 
     Defense and such other departments and agencies of the 
     Federal Government as the Secretary determines appropriate.
       (3) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 
     to the congressional defense committees a report that 
     includes--
       (A) the strategic plan developed under paragraph (1); and
       (B) an assessment of whether the budgets proposed for 
     quantum information science-related activities of the 
     Department of Defense and each of the covered Armed Forces 
     appropriately balance the use of research, development, test, 
     and evaluation funds designated as budget activity 1 (basic 
     research), budget activity 2 (applied research), and budget 
     activity 3 (advanced technology development) (as those budget 
     activity classifications are set forth in volume 2B, chapter 
     5 of the Department of Defense Financial Management 
     Regulation (DOD 7000.14-R)) to achieve the objectives of the 
     strategic plan over near-, mid-, and long-term timeframes.
       (b) Quantum Computing Center of Excellence.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish a 
     Quantum Computing Center of Excellence (referred to in this 
     subsection as the ``Center'') at a research laboratory of a 
     covered Armed Force with requisite experience in quantum 
     computing, integrated photonics and photon qubits, 
     superconducting and hybrid systems, and trapped ions.
       (2) Activities.--The Center shall carry out the following 
     activities:
       (A) Accelerate the transition of advanced quantum and 
     quantum hybrid computing technology from the research and 
     development phase into operational use.
       (B) Facilitate quantum computing workforce development.
       (C) Conduct outreach to enhance government, industry, and 
     academia's understanding of--
       (i) national security-related use cases for quantum 
     computing and quantum hybrid technology; and
       (ii) operational challenges faced by the Department of 
     Defense that may be addressed using such technology.
       (D) Conduct prototyping of quantum computing and quantum 
     hybrid applications.
       (E) Undertake efforts to advance the technology readiness 
     levels of quantum computing technologies.
       (F) Carry out such other activities relating to quantum 
     computing as the Secretary determines appropriate.
       (3) Partner organizations.--For purposes of carrying out 
     the activities of the Center under this subsection, the 
     research laboratory selected under paragraph (1) may partner 
     with one or more of the following:
       (A) Other research laboratories of the covered Armed 
     Forces.
       (B) The Defense Innovation Unit.
       (C) Federally funded research and development centers.
       (D) University affiliated research centers.
       (E) Private sector entities with expertise in quantum 
     computing.
       (F) Such other organizations as the Secretary of Defense 
     determines appropriate.
       (4) Contract authority.--Subject to availability of 
     appropriations, Secretary of Defense may make grants and 
     enter into contracts or other agreements, on a competitive 
     basis, to support the activities of the Center.
       (5) Termination.--The Center shall terminate on the date 
     that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (c) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) The term ``covered Armed Force'' means the Army, Navy, 
     Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force.
       (2) The term ``quantum computing'' means computing 
     algorithms and applications that use quantum mechanics 
     through quantum processing units, including--
       (A) quantum-classical hybrid applications which are 
     applications that use both quantum computing and classical 
     computing hardware systems;
       (B) annealing and gate systems; and
       (C) all qubit modalities (including superconducting, 
     trapped-ion, neutral atom, and photonics).
       (3) The term ``quantum information science'' means the use 
     of the laws of quantum physics for the storage, transmission, 
     manipulation, computing, or measurement of information.
                                 ______