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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle D--Industrial Base Matters

P. L. 116-

House Conference Report   116-617

(1) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting the following:

``(a) Annual Report.--The Secretary'';

(2) in subsection (a), as designated by paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

``(5) A detailed description of any use by the Secretary of Defense or a Secretary concerned, as applicable, during the prior 12 months of a waiver or exception to the sourcing requirements or prohibitions established by chapter 83 of title 41 or subchapter V of chapter 148 of this title, including--

``(A) the type of waiver or exception used; and ``(B) the reasoning for the use of each such waiver or exception.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

``(b) Quarterly Briefings.--(1) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the congressional defense committees receive quarterly briefings on the industrial base supporting the Department of Defense, describing challenges, gaps, and vulnerabilities in the defense industrial base and commercial sector relevant to execution of defense missions, and describing initiatives to address such challenges.

``(2) Each briefing under paragraph (1) shall include an update on the progress of addressing such gaps or vulnerabilities by the Secretary, the Secretary of the military department concerned, or the appropriate head of a Defense Agency, including an update on--

``(A) actions taken to address such gaps or vulnerabilities;

``(B) policy changes necessary to address such gaps or vulnerabilities; and

``(C) the proposed timeline for action and resources required to address such gaps or vulnerabilities.''.

(b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--

(1) Heading amendment.--The heading of section 2504 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``Sec. 2504. National technology and industrial base: annual report and quarterly briefings''.

(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter II of chapter 148 of such title is amended by striking the item relating to section 2504 and inserting the following new item:

``2504. National technology and industrial base: annual report and
quarterly briefings.''.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 821) that would amend section 2504 of title 10, United States Code, to require quarterly briefings to monitor progress toward eliminating gaps or vulnerabilities in the national technology and industrial base (NTIB) as identified in the Annual Industrial Capabilities Report to the Congress, as required by section 2504 of title 10, United States Code. The House bill also contained a provision (sec. 827) that would require a report describing the use of any waiver or exception by the Department of Defense to the requirements of chapter 83 of title 41, United States Code, or section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, relating to nonavailability determinations.

The Senate amendment contained a similar provision (sec. 5801) that would also require a report on nonavailability determinations under section 2533a of title 10, United States
Code.

The Senate recedes with an amendment that would combine the provisions to require quarterly briefings to the Congress on the industrial base supporting the Department of Defense describing challenges and vulnerabilities in the defense industrial base and commercial sector relevant to execution of defense missions, and describing initiatives to address such challenges, and would incorporate reporting on covered non-availability determinations. Regarding the NTIB briefings, the conferees note that the NTIB briefings are intended to cover a spectrum of industrial base issues and are not limited to topics related to DOD interactions with non-U.S. members of the national technology and industrial base. Regarding reporting on nonavailability determinations, the conferees note that a briefing on nonavailability determinations was required in the House committee report accompanying H.R. 2500 (H. Rept. 116-120) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, and, as it has yet to be produced by the Department, the conferees intend for this provision's reporting requirements to incorporate that direction. The conferees' intent is to increase insight into waivers, exceptions, and associated determinations in order to shape future industrial base policy direction.

House Committee Report 116-442 Accompanying H. R. 6395

Section 821--Quarterly National Technology and Industrial Base Briefings

This section would amend section 2504 of title 10, United States Code, to require quarterly briefings to monitor progress toward eliminating gaps or vulnerabilities in the industrial base as identified in the Annual Industrial Capabilities Report to Congress, as required by section 2504 of title 10, United States Code.