S.Amdt. 2356

1. Adds SEC. 1082. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON COMMERCIAL IMAGERY CAPABILITIES at the end of subtitle H of title X

   Adds a section

   In S. 1197 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   (e) Date for Submittal of Comptroller General of the United States Report.--Subsection (d) of such section is amended by striking "December 30, 2013" and inserting "December 31, 2014".

   Inserted: SEC. 1082. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON COMMERCIAL IMAGERY CAPABILITIES.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) In the current constrained budget environment, leveraging the commercial satellite imaging industry by sharing investment and operating costs with the private sector helps reduce the costs of acquiring electro-optical satellite imagery to satisfy the requirements of the leaders, intelligence agencies, and Armed Forces of the United States, while supporting United States industry in a competitive international market.

   Inserted: (2) Commercial imagery can be easily and securely used by the Armed Forces, shared readily with allies of the United States, and provided quickly to first-responders during natural disasters.

   Inserted: (3) The United States Commercial Remote Sensing Policy states that the United States Government will rely "to the maximum practical extent on U.S. commercial remote sensing space capabilities for filling imagery and geospatial needs for military, intelligence, foreign policy, homeland security, and civil users".

   Inserted: (4) The National Space Policy directs the executive branch to "[p]urchase and use commercial space capabilities and services to the maximum practical extent when such capabilities and services are available in the marketplace and meet United States Government requirements" and to "[m]odify commercial space capabilities and services to meet government requirements when existing commercial capabilities and services do not fully meet these requirements and the potential modification represents a more cost-effective and timely acquisition approach for the government".

   Inserted: (5) Since regulations on commercial imagery providers were put into place in 1999, the global marketplace for space-based imagery has been transformed by--

   Inserted: (A) the growth of foreign competition;

   Inserted: (B) the emergence of unclassified commercial imagery as a critical element of support for the Armed Forces, coalition intelligence sharing, and civil and humanitarian missions; and

   Inserted: (C) the availability of high-resolution aerial images.

   Inserted: (6) Airborne imaging companies and foreign providers have no restrictions on the image resolution they can offer, including on images anywhere in the United States, and the market share such companies and providers are capturing will continue to fuel advancements in their capabilities.

   Inserted: (7) Foreign commercial imagery providers may soon be able to provide imagery at or better than the currently allowed commercial United States resolution limit of 0.5 meters. As foreign companies approach or surpass that level of resolution, current restrictions on United States satellite-based commercial imagery data providers put the United States at a competitive disadvantage and may harm an industrial base that is important to national security.

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   Inserted: (8) The congressionally mandated GEOINT Commission recommended that the United States Government increase its use of commercial imagery for intelligence missions and urged relaxation of current resolution restrictions.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

   Inserted: (1) United States commercial imagery providers have the ability to contribute more substantially to the national security mission at a lower cost and in a manner consistent with the policy of the United States to enable United States companies to maintain a leadership position in the commercial satellite imaging industry;

   Inserted: (2) the United States Government should relax restrictions on the resolution of images that can be sold on the commercial market, without abandoning prudent limits on the sale of images that could compromise sensitive sites or operations; and

   Inserted: (3) relaxing those restrictions while maintaining appropriate protections safeguards the investment the United States has made to support the commercial satellite imaging industry at a time when the United States must maximize every resource to meet emerging threats.

   Original wording

   At the end of subtitle H of title X, add the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed