II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4947 

To establish the Defense Exportability Transfer Account. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CORNYN, 

and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the Defense Exportability Transfer Account. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defense Export Pro5 motion Of Relevant Technology and Supplies Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘Defense EXPORTS Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFENSE EXPORTABILITY TRANSFER ACCOUNT 

8 (DETA). 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

10 Department of Defense an account to be known as the 


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1 ‘‘Defense Exportability Transfer Account’’ (in this section 

2 referred to as the ‘‘Account’’). 

3 (b) AMOUNTS IN ACCOUNT.—The Account shall con4 sist of— 

5 (1) amounts appropriated to the Account; 

6 (2) amounts transferred to the Account under 

7 subsection (d); and 

8 (3) amounts credited to the Account under sub9 section (e). 

10 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the Account shall 

12 be available to develop program protection strategies 

13 for Department of Defense systems identified for 

14 possible future export, to design and incorporate 

15 exportability features into such systems during the 

16 research and development phases of such systems, 

17 and to integrate design features that enhance inter18 operability of such systems with those of friendly 

19 foreign countries. 

20 (2) AMOUNTS IN ADDITION.—Amounts in the 

21 Account are in addition to any other funds available 

22 to the Department of Defense for the purposes spec23 ified in paragraph (1). 

24 (d) TRANSFERS.— 


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1 (1) TRANSFERS FROM ACCOUNT.—The Sec2 retary of Defense may transfer funds from the Ac3 count to appropriations of the Department of De4 fense available for research, development, test, and 

5 evaluation in such amounts as the Secretary deter6 mines necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

7 section. Funds so transferred shall be available for 

8 the same time period and the same purposes as the 

9 appropriation to which transferred. 

10 (2) TRANSFERS TO ACCOUNT.—The Secretary 

11 may transfer funds from appropriations of the De12 partment of Defense available for research, develop13 ment, test, and evaluation to the Account in such 

14 amounts as the Secretary determines necessary to 

15 carry out the purposes of this section. Funds so 

16 transferred shall be available for the same time pe17 riod and the same purposes as the appropriation to 

18 which transferred. 

19 (3) NOTICE AND WAIT.—Funds may not be 

20 transferred under paragraph (1) or (2) until the ex21 piration of 15 days after the date on which the Sec22 retary notifies the congressional defense committees 

23 in writing of the amount and purpose of the pro24 posed transfer. 


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1 (4) OTHER AUTHORITIES.—The authority to 

2 transfer funds under this subsection is in addition to 

3 any other transfer authority available to the Depart4 ment of Defense. 

5 (e) COSTS.—Costs incurred by the Department of 

6 Defense for designing and incorporating exportability fea7 tures into Department of Defense systems shall be treated 

8 as nonrecurring costs under section 21(e)(1) of the Arms 

9 Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761(e)(1)). Amounts col10 lected as recoupments by the Department of Defense on 

11 foreign military sales, direct commercial sales, and sales 

12 of items developed under international cooperative projects 

13 that incorporate such exportability features shall be cred14 ited to the Account and shall remain available until ex15 pended to carry out the purposes of the Account. 

16 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—No later than January 1, 

17 2025, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense 

18 shall submit to the congressional defense committees a re19 port detailing the utilization of this fund, including— 

20 (1) the balance of the Fund, including inlays 

21 and outlays; 

22 (2) a list of systems receiving funds under this 

23 section; 


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1 (3) the projected and actual cost and schedule 

2 savings for each system receiving funds under this 

3 section; and 

4 (4) any other matters the Secretary determines 

5 appropriate. 

6 (g) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE7 VIEW.—Not later than five years after the date of the en8 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

9 States shall conduct an assessment of the efficacy of this 

10 section, including— 

11 (1) an emphasis on cost and schedule savings 

12 realized by the Federal Government pertaining to 

13 the delivery of articles that receive funding under 

14 this section; and 

15 (2) any other matters the Comptroller General 

16 deems appropriate. 

17 (h) APPROPRIATIONS.—There is hereby appropriated 

18 to the Account $50,000,000, to remain available until ex19 pended: Provided, That such amount is designated by 

20 Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant 

21 to section 4001(a)(1) and section 4001(b) of S. Con. Res. 

22 14 (117th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the 

23 budget for fiscal year 2022. 

Æ 


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