[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1437 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1437
To establish a partnership program to assist the military forces of
partner countries in developing and maintaining military-wide
transformational strategies for operational energy, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 3, 2023
Ms. Duckworth introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a partnership program to assist the military forces of
partner countries in developing and maintaining military-wide
transformational strategies for operational energy, 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 ``Energy Security for Overseas Troops
Act''.
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR PARTNER COUNTRIES TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN
MILITARY-WIDE TRANSFORMATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR OPERATIONAL
ENERGY.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than January 1, 2025, the
Secretary of Defense shall establish a partnership program to
assist the military forces of partner countries in developing
and maintaining military-wide transformational strategies for
operational energy (in this section referred to as the
``Program'').
(2) Organization.--The Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Energy, Installations, and Environment, in consultation with
the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Secretaries of
the military departments, the commanders of the combatant
commands, and any other individual the Secretary of Defense
considers appropriate, shall be responsible for, and shall
oversee, the Program.
(b) Objective.--The objective of the Program is to promote the
readiness of the United States Armed Forces and the military forces of
partner countries for missions in contested logistics environments by
reducing reliance on fossil fuels and employing more diverse and
renewable operational energy sources so as to enhance energy security,
energy resilience, and energy conservation, reduce logistical
vulnerabilities, and ensure that supply lines are resilient to climate
change, disruptions to energy supplies, and direct or indirect cyber
attacks.
(c) Activities.--
(1) In general.--Under the Program, the United States Armed
Forces and the military forces of each participating partner
country shall, in coordination--
(A) establish policies to improve warfighting
capability through energy security and energy
resilience;
(B) integrate efforts to mitigate mutual contested
logistics challenges through the reduction of
operational energy demand;
(C) identify and mitigate operational energy
challenges presented by any contested logistics
environment, including through developing innovative
delivery systems, distributed storage, flexible
contracting, and improved automation;
(D) assess and integrate, to the extent
practicable, any technology, including electric,
hydrogen, nuclear, biofuels, and any other sustainable
fuel technology or renewable energy technology, that
may reduce operational energy demand in the near term
or long term;
(E) assess and consider any infrastructure
investment of allied and partner countries that may
affect operational energy availability in the event of
a conflict with a near-peer adversary; and
(F) assess and integrate, to the extent
practicable--
(i) any technology that increases
sustainability and lowers emissions; and
(ii) any practice, technology or strategy
that reduces negative impacts on human health.
(2) Country considerations.--In carrying out any activity
under paragraph (1), to the extent practicable, the relevant
existing and past military conflicts and cultural practices of,
and beliefs prevalent in, the participating country shall be
taken into account.
(d) Strategy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than September 30, 2024, the
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed
Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a
strategy for the implementation of the Program.
(2) Elements.--The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) A governance structure for the Program,
including--
(i) the officials tasked to oversee the
Program;
(ii) the format of the governing body of
the Program;
(iii) the functions and duties of such
governing body with respect to establishing and
maintaining the Program; and
(iv) mechanisms for coordinating with
partner countries selected to participate in
the Program.
(B) With respect to the selection of partner
countries initially selected to participate in the
Program--
(i) an identification of each such country;
(ii) the rationale for selecting each such
country, including a description of--
(I) the benefits to the military
forces of the partner country; and
(II) the benefits to the United
States Armed Forces of participation by
such country;
(iii) a description of any limitation on
the participation of a selected partner
country; and
(iv) any other information the Secretary of
Defense considers appropriate.
(C) A list of additional authorities,
appropriations, or other congressional support
necessary to ensure the success of the Program.
(D) A campaign of objectives for the first three
fiscal years of the Program, including--
(i) a description of, and a rationale for
selecting, such objectives;
(ii) an identification of milestones toward
achieving such objectives; and
(iii) metrics for evaluating success in
achieving such objectives.
(E) A description of opportunities and potential
timelines for future Program expansion, as appropriate.
(F) Any other information the Secretary of Defense
considers appropriate.
(3) Form.--The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
(e) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than September 20, 2025, and
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to
the congressional defense committees (as defined in section 101
of title 10, United States Code) a report on the Program.
(2) Elements.--Each report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) A narrative summary of activities conducted as
part of the Program during the preceding fiscal year.
(B) Except in the case of the initial report, an
assessment of progress toward the objectives
established for the preceding fiscal year described in
the preceding report under this subsection using the
metrics established in such report.
(C) A campaign of objectives for the three fiscal
years following the date of submission of the report,
including--
(i) a description of, and a rationale for
selecting, such objectives;
(ii) an identification of milestones toward
achieving such objectives; and
(iii) metrics for evaluating success in
achieving such objectives.
(D) A description of opportunities and potential
timelines for future Program expansion, as appropriate.
(E) Any other information the Secretary of Defense
considers appropriate.
(3) Form.--Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
(f) Termination.--The Program shall terminate on December 31, 2029.
(g) Contested Logistics Environment Defined.--In this section, the
term ``contested logistics environment'' means an environment in which
the United States Armed Forces or the military forces of a partner
country engage in conflict with an adversary that presents challenges
in all domains and directly targets logistics operations, facilities,
and activities in the United States, abroad, or in transit from one
location to the other.
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