[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2294 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2294
To require an independent assessment with respect to the Arctic region
and establishment of Arctic Security Initiative, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2021
Mr. Sullivan (for himself and Mr. King) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require an independent assessment with respect to the Arctic region
and establishment of Arctic Security Initiative, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Arctic Security Initiative Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the security, stability, and prosperity of the Arctic
region are vital to the national interests of the United
States;
(2) the United States should posture a military capability
in the region that is able to project power, deter acts of
aggression, and respond, if necessary, to threats within and
arising from the Arctic region;
(3) the defense of the United States and its allies from
the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and any other aggressor
remains a top priority;
(4) persistent efforts by the Department of Defense to
realign United States forces in the Arctic region, and commit
additional assets to and increase investments in the Arctic
region, are necessary to maintain a robust United States
commitment to the Arctic region;
(5) the United States commitment to freedom of navigation
and ensuring free access to sea lanes and overflights for the
Navy and the Air Force remains a core security interest; and
(6) the United States should continue to engage in the
Arctic region by--
(A) strengthening alliances and partnerships;
(B) supporting regional institutions and bodies
such as the Arctic Council;
(C) building cooperative security arrangements;
(D) addressing shared challenges; and
(E) reinforcing the role of international law,
including respect for human rights.
SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.
(a) In General.--Not later than February 15, 2022, the Commander of
the United States Northern Command, in consultation and coordination
with the Commanders of the United States European Command and the
United States Indo-Pacific Command, the military departments, and
defense agencies, shall conduct an independent assessment with respect
to the activities and resources required, for fiscal years 2023 through
2027, to achieve the following objectives:
(1) The implementation of the National Defense Strategy and
military service-specific strategies with respect to the Arctic
region.
(2) The maintenance or restoration of the comparative
military advantage of the United States in response to great
power competitors in the Arctic region.
(3) The reduction of the risk of executing operation and
contingency plans of the Department of Defense.
(4) To maximize execution of Department operation and
contingency plans, in the event deterrence fails.
(b) Elements.--The assessment required by subsection (a) shall
include the following:
(1) An analysis of, and recommended changes to achieve, the
required force structure and posture of assigned and allocated
forces within the Arctic region for fiscal year 2027 necessary
to achieve the objectives described in subsection (a), which
shall be informed by--
(A) a review of United States military requirements
based on operation and contingency plans, capabilities
of potential adversaries, assessed gaps or shortfalls
of the Armed Forces within the Arctic region, and
scenarios that consider--
(i) potential contingencies that commence
in the Arctic region and contingencies that
commence in other regions but affect the Arctic
region;
(ii) use of near-time, mid-time, and far-
time horizons to encompass the range of
circumstances required to test new concepts and
doctrine; and
(iii) supporting analyses that focus on the
number of regionally postured military units
and the quality of capability of such units;
(B) a review of current United States military
force posture and deployment plans within the Arctic
region, especially of Arctic-based forces that provide
support to, or receive support from, the United States
Northern Command, the United States Indo-Pacific
Command, or the United States European Command;
(C) an analysis of potential future realignments of
United States forces in the region, including options
for strengthening United States presence, access,
readiness, training, exercises, logistics, and pre-
positioning; and
(D) any other matter the Commander of the United
States Northern Command determines to be appropriate.
(2) A discussion of any factor that may influence the
United States posture, supported by annual wargames and other
forms of research and analysis.
(3) An assessment of capabilities requirements to achieve
such objectives.
(4) An assessment of logistics requirements, including
personnel, equipment, supplies, storage, and maintenance needs
to achieve such objectives.
(5) An assessment and identification of required
infrastructure and military construction investments to achieve
such objectives.
(6) An assessment of security cooperation activities or
resources required to achieve such objectives.
(7) An assessment and recommended changes to the
leadership, organization, and management of Arctic policy,
strategy, and operations among the combatant commands and
military services.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than February 15, 2022, the
Commander of United States Northern Command, in consultation
and coordination with the Commanders of the United States
European Command and the United States Indo-Pacific Command,
shall submit to the congressional defense committees (as
defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code) a
report on the assessment required by subsection (a).
(2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) may be
submitted in classified form, but shall include an unclassified
summary.
(3) Availability.--Not later than February 15, 2022, the
Commander of the United States Northern Command shall make the
report available to the Secretary of Defense, the Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller), the Director of Cost Assessment and Program
Evaluation, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the
Secretaries of the military departments, and the chiefs of
staff of each military service.
SEC. 4. ARCTIC SECURITY INITIATIVE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense shall carry out a program
of activities to enhance security in the Arctic region, which shall be
known as the ``Arctic Security Initiative'' (referred to in this
section as the ``Initiative'').
(b) Objectives.--The Initiative's development and subsequent
implementation shall be--
(1) consistent with the objectives described in section
3(a); and
(2) informed by the assessment required by that section.
(c) Activities.--The Initiative shall carry out the following
prioritized activities to improve the design and posture of the joint
force in the Arctic region:
(1) Modernize and strengthen the presence of the Armed
Forces, including those with advanced capabilities.
(2) Improve logistics and maintenance capabilities and the
pre-positioning of equipment, munitions, fuel, and materiel.
(3) Carry out a program of exercises, wargames, education,
training, experimentation, and innovation for the joint force.
(4) Improve infrastructure to enhance the responsiveness
and resiliency of the Armed Forces.
(5) Build the defense and security capabilities, capacity,
and cooperation of allies and partners.
(6) Strengthen Arctic consultative mechanisms and
collaborative planning.
(d) Five-Year Plan for the Initiative.--
(1) In general.--Not later than April 15, 2022, and each
February 15 thereafter, the Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with the Commanders of the United States Northern
Command, the United States European Command, and the United
States Indo-Pacific Command shall submit to the congressional
defense committees a future years plan for the activities and
resources of the Initiative that includes the following:
(A) A description of the activities and resources
for the first fiscal year beginning after the date of
on which the report required by section 3(c) is
submitted and the plan for not fewer than the four
following fiscal years, organized by the activities
described in subsection (c).
(B) A summary of progress made towards achieving
the objectives described in section 3(a).
(C) A summary of the activity, resource,
capability, infrastructure, and logistics requirements
necessary to achieve measurable progress in reducing
risk to the ability of the joint force to achieve
objectives in the Arctic region, including through
investments in--
(i) active and passive defenses against--
(I) manned aircraft, surface
vessels, and submarines;
(II) unmanned naval systems;
(III) unmanned aerial systems; and
(IV) theater cruise, ballistic, and
hypersonic missiles;
(ii) advanced long-range precision strike
systems;
(iii) command, control, communications,
computers, intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance systems;
(iv) training and test range capacity,
capability, and coordination;
(v) dispersed resilient and adaptive basing
to support distributed operations, including
expeditionary airfields and ports, space launch
facilities, and command posts;
(vi) advanced critical munitions;
(vii) pre-positioned forward stocks of
fuel, munitions, equipment, and materiel;
(viii) distributed logistics and
maintenance capabilities;
(ix) strategic mobility assets, including
icebreakers;
(x) improved interoperability, logistics,
transnational supply lines and infrastructure,
and information sharing with allies and
partners, including scientific missions;
(xi) information operations capabilities;
(xii) bilateral and multilateral military
exercises and training with allies and
partners; and
(xiii) use of security cooperation
authorities to further build partner capacity.
(D) A detailed timeline for achieving the
requirements identified under subparagraph (C).
(E) A detailed explanation of any significant
modification to such requirements, as compared to the
Commander of the United States Northern Command's
initial independent assessment for the first fiscal
year and to plans previously submitted for each
subsequent fiscal year.
(F) Any other matter the Secretary of Defense
considers necessary.
(2) Form.--The plan required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
(3) Inclusion in budget materials.--The Secretary of
Defense shall include such plan in the budget materials
submitted by the Secretary in support of the budget of the
President for fiscal year 2023 (submitted pursuant to section
1105 of title 31, United States Code).
SEC. 5. GENERAL TRANSFER AUTHORITY.
Funds may be made available to carry out this Act through the
transfer authority provided to the Department of Defense.
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