[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2542. Mr. SCHUMER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by him 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. __. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-ENABLED WEAPON SYSTEMS 
                   CENTER OF EXCELLENCE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The conflict in Ukraine has emerged as a proving ground 
     for new artificial intelligence-powered military technology, 
     including drones and other vehicles capable of using 
     artificial intelligence to navigate Global Positioning 
     System-denied environments.
       (2) Ukrainian companies have claimed to have fielded fully 
     autonomous weapons that can select and engage targets without 
     intervention by a human operator.
       (3) Russian military forces have recognized the disruptive 
     power of artificial intelligence-enabled weapon systems and 
     are quickly learning from battlefield experience and rapidly 
     adapting.
       (4) The Government of the Russian Federation is using these 
     lessons to inform its own weapons systems, develop 
     countermeasures, and proliferate this technology to other 
     adversaries.
       (5) As a result, it is critical that the Department of 
     Defense be postured to leverage data and artificial 
     intelligence insights garnered from the conflict in Ukraine 
     to optimize United States operations, logistics, and 
     decision-making processes
       (b) Establishment of Center of Excellence.--The Under 
     Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in 
     coordination with the Chief Digital and Artificial 
     Intelligence Officer, shall establish an Artificial 
     Intelligence-Enabled Weapon Systems Center of Excellence (in 
     this section referred to as the ``Center''). The Center 
     shall--
       (1) create a hub of excellence for the latest advancements 
     in artificial intelligence-enabled weapon systems, 
     countermeasures, and training methodologies;
       (2) facilitate collaboration among the Department of 
     Defense and foreign partners, including Ukraine, to identify 
     and promulgate best practices, standards, and benchmarks;
       (3) facilitate collaboration among the Department of 
     Defense and industry and academia in the United States, 
     including innovative United States technology companies with 
     expertise in artificial intelligence-enabled systems and 
     autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons;
       (4) serve as a premier training location for the Department 
     of Defense; and
       (5) carry out such other responsibilities as the Under 
     Secretary determines appropriate.
       (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for 
     Research and Engineering shall submit to the congressional 
     defense committees a report that includes the plan for the 
     establishment of the Center and provide the committees a 
     briefing on the plan.
       (d) Artificial Intelligence-enabled Weapon System 
     Defined.--In this section, the term ``artificial 
     intelligence-enabled weapon system'' includes AI-enabled 
     autonomous unmanned aerial systems, autonomous unmanned 
     surface vessels, and other lethal autonomous and semi-
     autonomous weapon systems as determined by the Under 
     Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
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