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[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 238 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 238

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary 
    of the Army should report on the status of future Ground Combat 
                         Vehicles of the Army.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2017

  Mr. Carter of Texas (for himself, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Jones, Mr. 
Williams, Mr. Banks of Indiana, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Ms. Jackson Lee, 
  Mr. Jordan, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Carson of 
 Indiana, and Mr. Marshall) submitted the following resolution; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary 
    of the Army should report on the status of future Ground Combat 
                         Vehicles of the Army.

Whereas the Navy has plans to build three DDG-1000 destroyers and forty Littoral 
        Combat Ships;
Whereas the Navy is currently procuring its next-generation Ford class aircraft 
        carrier;
Whereas the Navy plans to procure 12 Columbia class submarines;
Whereas the Marine Corps has plans to procure 11 LX(R) Amphibious Warships;
Whereas the Air Force plans to procure 179 next-generation KC-46 refueling 
        tankers;
Whereas the Air Force plans to procure 100 B-21 Long Range Strike Bombers;
Whereas the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps have plans to procure 2,183 F-35 
        Joint Strike Fighter aircraft;
Whereas all these increases provide the individual services the ability to close 
        critical capability gaps, while the Army does not have immediate plans 
        for any new Ground Combat Vehicle;
Whereas future war, outlined by Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, 
        requires a mobile protected firepower platform that can maneuver in 
        contested domains, and maintain close-combat overmatch;
Whereas future Army forces cannot be dependent on precision strike air 
        supremacy, and must be able to sufficiently fight in decentralized 
        units;
Whereas the Army's current plan is for the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank and M2/M3 
        Bradley Fighting Vehicle-- which have been in service since the early 
        1980s--to continue service for another 50 to 70 years;
Whereas the current modernization strategy for the Abrams Main Battle Tank will 
        take 30 years to fully outfit the Army while not solving many problems 
        of close-combat overmatch;
Whereas in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 the Army will decide whether or not to 
        keep the current 35-year-old Bradley Fighting Vehicle in service for the 
        next 50 years;
Whereas allied and adversarial nations have made vast technological and 
        engineering improvements that cannot be applied to our current vehicles;
Whereas ground combat vehicles are fundamental in the future multi-domain battle 
        landscape where American technological superiority is challenged and 
        support from other services is contested, the Army still must maintain 
        the capability to overmatch threats in direct fire fights at close and 
        long ranges and protect combat vehicles from current and emerging 
        threats independent of air and naval support;
Whereas an Armored Brigade Combat Team is the only Army formation that provides 
        full spectrum combat power to Combatant Commanders; and
Whereas because the Army believes it is ``gravely underinvested in close-combat 
        overmatch . . . gravely underinvested in combat vehicles in 
        particular'', this Congress sees an immediate need for a more rapid 
        paced modernization strategy and a next generation solution developed by 
        the Army and industry: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Secretary of the Army should submit to Congress--
            (1) a report on the modernization strategy for ground 
        combat systems of the Army, including plans for such 
        modernization over the next five and ten years at current and 
        increased funding levels;
            (2) a report on the current technological, engineering, and 
        capability needs for a future Ground Combat Vehicle of the 
        Army;
            (3) a classified brief on the capabilities of ground combat 
        vehicles used by allies and adversaries of the United States;
            (4) a classified brief on the capabilities of ground combat 
        vehicles--
                    (A) that are available from industry; and
                    (B) that require further development or that have 
                the potential to become fully developed over the course 
                of development and production; and
            (5) a research and development timeline for the rapid 
        innovation and production of future Ground Combat Vehicles.
                                 <all>
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