[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 149 (Thursday, September 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S6581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3880. Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. Duckworth) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3748 proposed by Mr. 
Wicker (for himself and Mr. Reed) to the bill S. 2296, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2026 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 C of title VIII, add the following:

     SEC. 849B. REPORT ON UNITED STATES BOOT INDUSTRIAL BASE AND 
                   BERRY AMENDMENT COMPLIANCE.

       (a) Report Required.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
     submit to the congressional defense committees a report on 
     the United States boot industrial base, including a 
     comprehensive plan for the Department of Defense to fully 
     comply with the requirements under section 4862 of title 10, 
     United States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Berry 
     Amendment'') by not later than fiscal year 2028.
       (b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) 
     shall include the following elements:
       (1) A detailed description of current and surge 
     manufacturing capacity for Berry-compliant, government-issued 
     boots, including suppliers of leather, textiles, soles, and 
     components, as well as risks to supply chain resilience and 
     small business participation. Surge manufacturing capacity 
     includes all major domestic manufacturers of boots including 
     those not currently supplying Berry-compliant boots.
       (2) A market survey of domestic boot manufacturers 
     regarding interest in producing Berry-compliant boots if 
     there were to be a requirement that all members of the Armed 
     Forces are required to only wear Berry-compliant boots.
       (3) A time-phased schedule of actions, milestones, and 
     resources required to achieve full Berry Amendment compliance 
     for combat footwear across all military services by fiscal 
     year 2028.
       (4) An assessment of how current policies allowing the wear 
     of ``optional combat boots'' that are not Berry-compliant 
     undermine the intent of the Berry Amendment and weaken the 
     United States industrial base, and recommendations for coming 
     into compliance.
       (5) A plan to implement and enforce narrowly tailored 
     availability and medical exemptions, as authorized under 
     section 4862(c) of title 10, United States Code, with 
     controls to prevent overuse.
       (6) Steps to expand industrial capacity for Berry-compliant 
     government-issued boots through multiyear contracting, demand 
     forecasting, inventory planning, and attracting new Berry-
     compliant suppliers by requiring that optional boots must be 
     Berry-compliant.
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