S.Amdt. 603

SA 603. Mr. CRUZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 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 B of title XVI, add the following:

SEC. ___. LEVERAGING COMMERCIAL SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING.

(a) In General.--In acquiring geospatial-intelligence, the
Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of the
National Reconnaissance Office and in coordination with the
Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,
shall--
(1) consider the needs of the National Reconnaissance
Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the
Department of Defense geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) user
community, including the combatant commanders; and
(2) leverage, to the maximum extent practicable, the
capabilities of United States industry, including through the
use of commercial geospatial-intelligence services and
acquisition of commercial satellite imagery.
(b) Obtaining Future Data.--The Secretary, as early as
possible in the acquisition process for any future Department
of Defense space system for geospatial-intelligence, shall--
(1) consider whether there is a suitable, cost-effective,
commercial capability available, or that will be available by
the planned operational date of the system, to meet any or
all of the system requirements;
(2) if a suitable, cost-effective, commercial capability is
or will be available as described in paragraph (1), determine
whether it is in the national interest to develop a
governmental space system; and
(3) submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report detailing any determination made under paragraphs (1)
and (2).
(c) Definition of Appropriate Committees of Congress.--In
this section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(1) Committee on Armed Services and the Select Committee on
Intelligence of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives.
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