[Pages S5221-S5222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3425. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
her to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2026 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 E of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1265. MIDDLE EAST DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION 
                   COOPERATION INITIATIVE.

       (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense, in 
     coordination with the Defense Innovation Community of 
     Entities, shall establish an initiative to cooperate with 
     defense innovation partners in the Middle East for the 
     purpose of developing a strong international community of 
     defense innovation entities among such partners--
       (1) to create opportunities to procure the best of 
     commercial technology from international companies, including 
     such companies located in countries that are defense 
     innovation partners in the Middle East, so as to meet the 
     needs of warfighters that are such partners;
       (2) to develop interoperable solutions compatible with 
     capabilities of the United States and such partners;
       (3) to build defense technology and defense innovation 
     capacity in the United States and in countries that are such 
     partners;
       (4) to mature and expand the reach and impact of the 
     innovation ecosystems within and among such partners;
       (5) to strengthen the collective defense innovation bases 
     and security posture of the United States and such partners 
     through co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment 
     opportunities; and

[[Page S5222]]

       (6) to implement other partnerships, as the Secretary of 
     Defense considers necessary.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of the initiative established 
     under subsection (a) is to address--
       (1) shared challenges facing the United States and defense 
     innovation partners in the Middle East from--
       (A) the Islamic Republic of Iran;
       (B) Iran-backed terrorist threats, including Hamas, the 
     Houthis, and Hezbollah; and
       (C) any other violent extremist organization within the 
     area of responsibility of the United States Central Command; 
     and
       (2) any other such shared challenge, as determined by the 
     Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the commander of 
     the United States Central Command and the Defense Innovation 
     Community of Entities.
       (c) Focus.--The initiative established under subsection (a) 
     shall focus on the following capabilities:
       (1) Unmanned systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles, 
     unmanned underwater vehicles, and unmanned surface vehicles.
       (2) Capabilities to counter unmanned systems, including 
     kinetic, high-power microwave, and directed energy 
     capabilities.
       (3) Advanced intelligence and its defense applications.
       (4) Any other capability necessary to resolve the shared 
     challenges described in subsection (b), as determined by the 
     Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the commander of 
     the United States Central Command and the Defense Innovation 
     Community of Entities.
       (d) Exploratory Defense Innovation Partnerships.--
       (1) In general.--To implement the initiative established 
     under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense, in 
     coordination with the Defense Innovation Community of 
     Entities, shall seek to enter into exploratory defense 
     innovation partnerships with defense innovation partners in 
     the Middle East.
       (2) Exploratory defense innovation partnerships defined.--
     In this subsection, the term ``exploratory defense innovation 
     partnership'' means a partnership that involves the following 
     collaborative activities between the United States and 
     defense innovation partners in the Middle East:
       (A) Convening events focused on defense innovation, with 
     participation of representatives of government, industry, and 
     investors of the United States and defense innovation 
     partners in the Middle East.
       (B) Information exchanges between the United States and 
     defense innovation partners in the Middle East to share best 
     practices with respect to the acquisition of commercial 
     technology that meets the needs of warfighters.
       (C) Meetings to share lessons learned on rapidly 
     prototyping, experimenting, and scaling innovative defense 
     solutions during an ongoing military conflict.
       (D) Any other collaborative activity to improve and 
     integrate the defense innovation base of the United States 
     and defense innovation partners in the Middle East.
       (e) Determination on Entering in Mature Defense Innovation 
     Partnerships.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in 
     coordination with the Defense Innovation Community of 
     Entities, shall issue a determination as to whether it is 
     feasible for the United States to enter into a mature defense 
     innovation partnership described in paragraph (2).
       (2) Mature defense innovation partnerships described.--A 
     mature defense innovation partnership described in this 
     paragraph may include--
       (A) the signing of a memorandum of understanding or defense 
     innovation cooperation agreement between or among the United 
     States and 1 or more defense innovation partners in the 
     Middle East to facilitate joint defense innovation;
       (B) the implementation of liaison officer exchange programs 
     to deepen the integration of defense innovation efforts of 
     the United States and 1 or more defense innovation partners 
     in the Middle East;
       (C) the implementation of commercial opportunities 
     programming, including--
       (i) prize challenges;
       (ii) dual-use accelerators; and
       (iii) educational series; and
       (D) the solicitation, through commercial solutions 
     openings, of innovative defense solutions from companies 
     located within the country of 1 or more defense innovation 
     partners in the Middle East.
       (3) Consideration.--The Secretary of Defense, in 
     coordination with the Defense Innovation Community of 
     Entities, shall make the determination required by paragraph 
     (1) based on the following considerations:
       (A) An evaluation as to the whether the implementation of 
     exploratory defense innovation partnership described in 
     subsection (d) has served the interests of United States 
     national security.
       (B) An assessment of potential benefits and risks to United 
     States national security interests from pursuing mature 
     defense innovation partnerships described in paragraph (2).
       (C) An evaluation as to whether the pursuit of such a 
     mature defense innovation partnership will unacceptably 
     reduce the ability of the Defense Innovation Community of 
     Entities to pursue defense innovation partnerships with 
     allies and partners in the areas of responsibility of the 
     United States Europe Command and the United States Indo-
     Pacific Command.
       (D) Any other matter the Secretary of Defense considers 
     relevant.
       (4) Revision.--In the case of a determination under 
     paragraph (1) that it is not feasible to enter into a mature 
     defense innovation partnership described in paragraph (2), 
     the Secretary of Defense may, at any time if circumstances 
     have changed to make such a partnership feasible, revise such 
     determination and enter into such a partnership.
       (f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in 
     coordination with the Defense Innovation Community of 
     Entities, shall submit to Committees on Armed Services of the 
     Senate and the House of Representatives a report that 
     includes--
       (1) a description of the implementation of the exploratory 
     defense innovation partnerships described in subsection (d); 
     and
       (2) the determination required by subsection (e) and a 
     justification for such determination.
       (g) Defense Innovation Partners in the Middle East 
     Defined.--The term ``defense innovation partners in the 
     Middle East'' means the following:
       (1) Israel.
       (2) The United Arab Emirates.
       (3) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
       (4) Each country within the area of responsibility of the 
     United States Central Command that is selected by the 
     Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the commander of 
     the United States Central Command and the Defense Innovation 
     Community of Entities, as an ideal partner for collaboration 
     in the area of defense innovation.
       (h) Protection of Intellectual Property.--The Secretary of 
     Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, 
     shall take all necessary steps to ensure the protection of 
     the intellectual properties of United States companies that 
     participate in the initiative described in subsection (a) 
     from foreign actors.
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