[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3341-S3342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6152. Mr. WYDEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2027 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. 2___. IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO STEERING COMMITTEE ON
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND NATIONAL SECURITY.
Section 236 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law
116-283), is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``may'' and inserting
``shall'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (e) and (f) as subsections
(f) and (g), respectively;
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e) Report on Comparative Capabilities of Adversaries
With Respect to Lethal Autonomous and Semi-autonomous Weapon
Systems.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than December 31, 2026, and
annually thereafter, the Steering Committee shall submit the
appropriate congressional committees a report comparing the
capabilities of the United States with the capabilities of
adversaries of the United States with respect to weapon
systems described in paragraph (3).
[[Page S3342]]
``(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include--
``(A) for each weapon system described in subsection (c)--
``(i) an evaluation of spending by the United States and
adversaries on such weapon system;
``(ii) an evaluation of the test infrastructure and
workforce supporting such weapon system; and
``(iii) an evaluation of the quantity of such weapon system
under development, developed, or deployed;
``(B) an assessment of the technological progress of the
United States and adversaries on lethal fully automated and
semi-autonomous weapon systems technology;
``(C) a description of the timeline for operational
deployment of such technology by the United States and
adversaries;
``(D) an assessment, conducted in coordination with the
Director of National Intelligence, of the intent or
willingness of adversaries to use such technology; and
``(E) the approval process of the United States for the
development and deployment of lethal automated weapon
systems.
``(3) Weapon systems described.--The weapon systems
described in this subsection are the following:
``(A) Weapon systems that enable lethal, offensive
capabilities that are fully-automated or have the potential
to become fully-automated.
``(B) Weapon systems that support targeting for lethal
action.
``(C) Automated systems with intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance capabilities that support target
recommendations.
``(4) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex.
``(5) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In
this section, the term `appropriate congressional committees'
means--
``(A) the Committee on Armed Services and the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
``(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives.''; and
(4) in subsection (f), as redesignated by paragraph (2)--
(A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Fully automated; potential to become fully
automated.--
``(A) Fully automated.--The term `fully automated', with
respect to a weapon system, means that the weapon system,
once activated, can select and engage targets without further
intervention by an operator, as defined in Department of
Defense Directive 3000.09; or
``(B) Potential to become fully automated.--The term
`potential to become fully automated', with respect to a
weapon system, means that the weapon system has the potential
to be deployed in a manner that would qualify as an
autonomous weapon system under Department of Defense
Directive 3000.09.''; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (3), as redesignated by
subparagraph (A), the following:
``(4) Semi-autonomous.--
``(A) In general.--The term `semi-autonomous,' with respect
to a weapons system, means that the weapon system, once
activated, is intended to only engage individual targets or
specific target groups that have been selected by an
operator, as defined in Department of Defense Directive
3000.09.
``(B) Inclusions.--Semi-autonomous weapons systems
include--
``(i) weapon systems that employ autonomy for engagement-
related functions including--
``(I) acquiring, tracking, and identifying potential
targets; cuing potential targets to operators;
``(II) prioritizing selected targets; timing of when to
fire; and
``(III) providing terminal guidance to home in on selected
targets if operator control is retained over the decision to
select individual targets and specific target groups for
engagement; and
``(ii) `fire and forget' or lock-on-after-launch homing
munitions that rely on tactics, techniques, and procedures to
maximize the probability that the only targets within the
acquisition basket of the seeker when the seeker activates
are the targets or specific target groups that have been
selected by an operator.''.
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