S.Amdt. 2524

SA 2524. Mr. BOOKER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2019 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 end of subtitle F of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 12__. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MISSIONS,
OPERATIONS, AND ACTIVITIES IN NIGER AND THE
BROADER REGION.

(a) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in
consultation as appropriate with the Secretary of State,
shall submit to the congressional defense committees, the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives
a report on the missions, operations, and activities of the
Department of Defense in Niger and the broader region that
includes the following:
(A) A description of the objectives and the associated
lines of efforts of the Department in Niger and the broader
region, and the benchmarks for assessing progress toward such
objectives.
(B) A description of the timeline for achieving such
objectives in Niger and the broader region.
(C) A justification of the relevance of such objectives in
Niger and the broader region to the national security of the
United States and to the objectives in the National Defense
Strategy.
(D) A description of steps the Department is taking to
ensure that security cooperation in Niger and the broader
region is effectively coordinated with the diplomatic and
development activities of the Department of State and the
United States Agency for International Development.
(E) A description of the legal, operational, and fiscal
authorities relating to the lines of effort of the Department
in Niger and the broader region.
(F) An identification of measures to mitigate operational
risk to and increase the preparedness of members of the Armed
Forces conducting missions, operations, or activities in
Niger or the broader region.
(G) An assessment of the command and support relationships
of United States Africa Command with subordinate component
commands, including Special Operations Command Africa.
(H) An identification and description of each implemented
recommendation from the Army Regulation 15-6 investigation
report conducted by United States Africa Command regarding
the deaths of four soldiers in Niger on October 4, 2017.
(I) Any other matter the Secretary of Defense determines to
be appropriate.
(2) Scope of report.--For purposes of the report required
by paragraph (1), the term ``broader region'' includes
Algeria, Libya, Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso,
and Mali.
(b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a)(1) shall
be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a
classified annex.
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