[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3258 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3258
To foster the implementation of the policy of the United States to
achieve 355 battle force ships as soon as practicable.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 5, 2020
Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To foster the implementation of the policy of the United States to
achieve 355 battle force ships as soon as practicable.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Securing the Homeland by Increasing
our Power on the Seas Implementation Act'' or ``SHIPS Implementation
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The 2016 Navy Force Structure Assessment (FSA) started
with a request to the combatant commanders to provide their
unconstrained desire for Navy forces in their respective
theaters consistent with meeting the demands of the Defense
Planning Scenarios. To fully resource these platform-specific
demands with very little risk in any theater while supporting
enduring missions, ongoing two operations and setting the
theater for prompt warfighting response, the Navy would require
a 653-ship force.
(2) The 2016 Navy FSA further determined that a 355-ship
battle force is the level that balances an acceptable level of
warfighting risk to Navy equipment and personnel against
available resources and achieves a force size that can
reasonably achieve success.
(3) On March 27, 2019, before the Committee on Armed
Services of the Senate, Vice Admiral William Merz testified,
``I certainly do not expect the [355-ship requirement] to go
any lower. I would not be surprised if it goes up in several
categories.''.
(4) The Navy battle force currently consists of 293 ships.
(5) The Navy projects having 313 battle force ships in
2025.
(6) The Navy assesses the size of the People's Liberation
Army Navy as having surpassed that of the United States Navy
and predicts that it will reach 400 ships in 2025.
(7) Section 1025 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91; 10 U.S.C. 7921 note)
established the policy of the United States to have available,
as soon as practicable, not fewer than 355 battle force ships,
with funding subject to the availability of appropriations or
other funds.
(8) The Department of Defense has been able to achieve
program efficiencies and cost savings by using multiyear and
block buy contracting with many weapons programs. These
contracting strategies are currently being utilized to procure
Ford-class aircraft carriers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers,
Virginia-class submarines, and John Lewis-class fleet oilers.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SECURING THE
HOMELAND BY INCREASING OUR POWER ON THE SEAS
IMPLEMENTATION ACT.
It is the sense of Congress that to achieve the national policy of
the United States to have available, as soon as practicable, not fewer
than 355 battle force ships--
(1) the Navy must be adequately resourced to increase the
size of the Navy in accordance with the national policy, which
includes the associated ships, aircraft, personnel,
sustainment, and munitions;
(2) across fiscal years 2021 through 2025, the Navy should
start construction on not fewer than--
(A) 12 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers;
(B) 10 Virginia-class submarines;
(C) 2 Columbia-class submarines;
(D) 3 San Antonio-class amphibious ships;
(E) 1 LHA-class amphibious ship;
(F) 6 John Lewis-class fleet oilers; and
(G) 5 guided missile frigates;
(3) new guided missile frigate construction should increase
to a rate of between two and four ships per year once design
maturity and construction readiness permit;
(4) the Columbia-class submarine program should be funded
using the National Sea Based Deterrence Fund with funds that
are in addition to the Navy budget in recognition of the
critical single national mission that these vessels will
perform;
(5) stable shipbuilding rates of construction should be
maintained for each vessel class, utilizing multi-year or block
buy contract authorities when appropriate, until a deliberate
transition plan is identified; and
(6) prototyping of potential new shipboard subsystems
should be accelerated to build knowledge systematically, and,
to the maximum extent practicable, shipbuilding prototyping
should occur at the subsystem-level in advance of ship design.
SEC. 4. PROCUREMENT AUTHORITIES FOR CERTAIN SHIPBUILDING PROGRAMS.
(a) Contract Authority.--
(1) Procurement authorized.--In fiscal year 2021, the
Secretary of the Navy may enter into one or more contracts for
the procurement of any or all of the following groups of
vessels:
(A) Three San Antonio-class amphibious ships and
one America-class amphibious ship.
(B) Two Columbia-class submarines.
(C) Six John Lewis-class fleet oilers.
(2) Procurement in conjunction with existing contracts.--
The ships authorized to be procured under paragraph (1) may be
procured as additions to existing contracts covering such
programs.
(b) Certification Required.--A contract may not be entered into
under subsection (a) unless the Secretary of the Navy certifies to the
congressional defense committees, in writing, not later than 30 days
before entry into the contract, each of the following, which shall be
prepared by the milestone decision authority for such programs:
(1) The use of such a contract will result in significant
savings compared to the total anticipated costs of carrying out
the program through annual contracts. In certifying cost
savings under the preceding sentence, the Secretary shall
include a written explanation of--
(A) the estimated end cost and appropriated funds
by fiscal year, by hull, without the authority provided
in subsection (a);
(B) the estimated end cost and appropriated funds
by fiscal year, by hull, with the authority provided in
subsection (a);
(C) the estimated cost savings or increase by
fiscal year, by hull, with the authority provided in
subsection (a);
(D) the discrete actions that will accomplish such
cost savings or avoidance; and
(E) the contractual actions that will ensure the
estimated cost savings are realized.
(2) There is a reasonable expectation that throughout the
contemplated contract period the Secretary of the Navy will
request funding for the contract at the level required to avoid
contract cancellation.
(3) There is a stable design for the property to be
acquired and the technical risks associated with such property
are not excessive.
(4) The estimates of both the cost of the contract and the
anticipated cost avoidance through the use of a contract
authorized under subsection (a) are realistic.
(5) The use of such a contract will promote the national
security of the United States.
(6) During the fiscal year in which such contract is to be
awarded, sufficient funds will be available to perform the
contract in such fiscal year, and the future-years defense
program (as defined under section 221 of title 10, United
States Code) for such fiscal year will include the funding
required to execute the program without cancellation.
(c) Use of Incremental Funding.--With respect to a contract or
contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B), the Secretary
of the Navy may use incremental funding to make payments under the
contract with funds appropriated to the Shipbuilding and Conversion,
Navy or National Sea Based Deterrence Fund accounts through fiscal year
2025.
(d) Authority for Advance Procurement.--The Secretary of the Navy
may enter into one or more contracts for advance procurement associated
with a vessel or vessels for which authorization to enter into a
multiyear procurement contract is provided under subsection (a), and
for systems and subsystems associated with such vessels in economic
order quantities when cost savings are achievable.
(e) Condition for Out-Year Contract Payments.--A contract entered
into under subsection (a) shall provide that any obligation of the
United States to make a payment under the contract for a fiscal year is
subject to the availability of appropriations for that purpose for such
fiscal year.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Congressional defense committees.--The term
``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
(2) Milestone decision authority.--The term ``milestone
decision authority'' has the meaning given the term in section
2366a(d) of title 10, United States Code.
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