[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6556. Mr. HOEVEN 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. ___. TEST, EVALUATION, EXERCISES, AND EXPERIMENTS FOR 
                   PROTECTION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES AND ASSETS 
                   FROM UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.

       Section 130i of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (j) as 
     subsections (d) through (k), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
     subsection (c):
       ``(c) Test, Evaluation, Exercises, and Experiments.--(1) 
     The Secretary shall conduct such tests, evaluations, 
     exercises, and experiments as the Secretary considers 
     necessary to support the actions described in subsection 
     (b)(1).
       ``(2)(A) The Secretary may, on a case-by-case basis, 
     delegate the authority to conduct the activities in paragraph 
     (A) to an official from a qualified public entity.
       ``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term `qualified 
     public entity' means a Federal, State, or local entity, 
     including an academic institution, that--
       ``(i) has experience conducting tests of unmanned aircraft, 
     counter-unmanned aircraft systems and associated equipment; 
     and
       ``(ii) the Secretary determines will prioritize the 
     protection of people, ground infrastructure, and other 
     aircraft.''.
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