S.Amdt. 2623

SA 2623. Mr. WHITEHOUSE submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and
Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed 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 C of title II, add the following:

SEC. ___. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES AND
MATERIALS FOR MILITARY SHELTER APPLICATIONS.

(a) Study Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall seek to
enter into a contract or other agreement with the National
Academy of Sciences to perform the services covered by this
section.
(b) Independent Study.--Under a contract or other agreement
between the Secretary and the National Academy of Sciences
under this section, the National Academy of Sciences shall
conduct a study on the use of advanced technologies and
materials (including composite materials) for military
shelters and other infrastructure applications. Such study
shall include examination of the effectiveness of such
technologies and materials to enhance concealment,
camouflage, deception, shielding, and secure communications
of a command post or other infrastructure.
(c) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall ensure that the
study conducted under this section is completed and submit to
the congressional defense committees a report on the findings
of the Secretary with respect to such study.
(d) Alternative Contract Scientific Organization.--
(1) In general.--If the Secretary is unable to enter into a
contract or other agreement described in subsection (a) with
the National Academy of Sciences on terms acceptable to the
Secretary, the Secretary shall seek to enter into such
contract or other agreement with another appropriate
scientific organization that--
(A) is not part of the Federal Government; and
(B) has expertise and objectivity comparable to that of the
National Academy of Sciences.
(2) Treatment.--If the Secretary enters into an agreement
with another organization as described in paragraph (1), any
reference in this section to the National Academy of Sciences
shall be treated as a reference to the other organization.
______