I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7935 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to accelerate the implementation of quantum information science technologies within the Department of Defense, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2024 

Ms. STEFANIK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to accelerate the implementation of quantum information science technologies 

within the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 

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 Quantum Ac5 celeration Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. JOINT QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE DEFENSE 

2 TRANSITION ACTIVITIES. 

3 Chapter 301 of title 10, United States Code, is 

4 amended by inserting after section 4001 the following new 

5 section: 

6 ‘‘§ 4002. Joint quantum information science defense 

7 transition activities 

8 ‘‘(a) ACTIVITIES REQUIRED.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

10 shall establish a set of activities to accelerate the 

11 adoption and implementation quantum information 

12 science (hereafter referred to ‘QIS’) technology with13 in the Department of Defense. 

14 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—Pursuant to the activities es15 tablished under paragraph (1), the Secretary, acting 

16 through the Principal Quantum Advisor designated 

17 under subsection (b), shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) explore and identify QIS technologies 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(i) have demonstrated value in ad21 vancing the priorities and missions of the 

22 Department; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) may be applied to address oper24 ational problems; 

25 ‘‘(B) develop plans to transition such QIS 

26 technologies from the research and development 


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1 phase to operational use within the Depart2 ment, including within each of the Armed 

3 Forces; and 

4 ‘‘(C) carry out such transition plans. 

5 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF PRINCIPAL QUANTUM ADVI6 SOR.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary of Defense shall designate a senior official of 

10 the Department of Defense to serve as the Principal 

11 Quantum Advisor for the Department. 

12 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Principal Quan13 tum Advisor shall serve as the official within the De14 partment of Defense with principal responsibility 

15 for— 

16 ‘‘(A) coordinating activities relating to the 

17 accelerated demonstration and transition of 

18 QIS technologies for applications specific to 

19 operational challenges faced by the Department; 

20 ‘‘(B) coordinating, overseeing, and man21 aging the set of activities established under sub22 section (a); 

23 ‘‘(C) carrying out the activities described 

24 in paragraphs (3) through (6); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) carrying out such other duties related 

2 to the development and implementation of QIS 

3 technologies as the Secretary may direct. 

4 ‘‘(3) DEFINING AND CODIFYING DEFENSE QIS

5 USE CASES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Principal Quan7 tum Advisor shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) identify operational challenges 

9 faced by the Department of Defense that 

10 have the potential to be addressed through 

11 the use of QIS-technology based solutions, 

12 including solutions based on the QIS tech13 nology areas described subparagraph (C); 

14 ‘‘(ii) for each such challenge, deter15 mine if the implementation of a QIS tech16 nology-based solution has the potential to 

17 be significantly more effective at address18 ing such challenge compared to a non-QIS 

19 technology-based solution, taking into ac20 count the technology and manufacturing 

21 readiness level of the QIS technology-based 

22 solution; 

23 ‘‘(iii) for each potential QIS tech24 nology-based solution identified under 

25 clause (ii), evaluate and determine the 


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1 technology and manufacturing readiness 

2 level of the solution taking into account the 

3 current readiness level of such solution— 

4 ‘‘(I) within the Department; 

5 ‘‘(II) among other departments 

6 and agencies of the Federal Govern7 ment; 

8 ‘‘(III) among Five Eyes coun9 tries; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) within academia and indus11 try. 

12 ‘‘(iv) for each QIS technology-based 

13 solution determined under clause (iii) to 

14 have a technology and manufacturing read15 iness level of 5 or higher, begin proto16 typing and evaluation activities of such so17 lution at scale in operationally relevant en18 vironments by not later than the end of fis19 cal year 2025; and 

20 ‘‘(v) for each QIS technology-based 

21 solution determined under clause (iii) to 

22 have a technology and manufacturing read23 iness level of 4 or lower, submit to Con24 gress a plan for funding such solution over 

25 the period of five fiscal years following the 


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1 date of the report using research, develop2 ment, test, and evaluation funds des3 ignated as budget activity 1 (basic re4 search), budget activity 2 (applied re5 search), budget activity 3 (advanced tech6 nology development), or budget activity 4 

7 (advanced component development and 

8 prototypes) as those budget activity classi9 fications are set forth in volume 2B, chap10 ter 5 of the Department of Defense Finan11 cial Management Regulation (DOD 

12 7000.14–R). 

13 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this 

14 paragraph, the Principal Quantum Advisor 

15 shall coordinate with and seek input from the 

16 Armed Forces and unified combatant com17 mands— 

18 ‘‘(i) to identify and better understand 

19 the operational requirements of such 

20 Armed Forces and commands; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) to ensure that the timeline for 

22 transitioning any QIS technology-based ca23 pability to operational use within the 

24 Armed Forces and combatant commands 

25 aligns with— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the plans of such Forces and 

2 commands across the period covered 

3 by the future-years defense program; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(II) the program objective 

6 memorandum processes for such 

7 Forces and commands. 

8 ‘‘(C) QIS TECHNOLOGY AREAS DE9 SCRIBED.—The QIS technology areas described 

10 in this subparagraph are the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) Quantum sensing, including— 

12 ‘‘(I) alternative precision naviga13 tion and timing; 

14 ‘‘(II) undersea or underground 

15 detection; 

16 ‘‘(III) advanced intelligence, sur17 veillance, and reconnaissance quantum 

18 imaging techniques; and 

19 ‘‘(IV) biomedical and health care. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Quantum computing, including— 

21 ‘‘(I) annealing; 

22 ‘‘(II) quantum-enabled machine 

23 learning; 

24 ‘‘(III) simulation and optimiza25 tion; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) integrating quantum and 

2 classical computing. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Quantum annealing. 

4 ‘‘(iv) Quantum Communications and 

5 networking. 

6 ‘‘(v) Quantum-enabled modeling and 

7 simulation. 

8 ‘‘(vi) Hybrid quantum computing and 

9 the integration of quantum and classical 

10 computing components. 

11 ‘‘(4) ACCELERATION OF DEVELOPMENT AND

12 FIELDING OF QIS TECHNOLOGIES.—The Principal 

13 Quantum Advisor shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) use the flexibility of regulations, per15 sonnel, acquisition, partnerships with industry 

16 and academia, or other relevant policies of the 

17 Department to accelerate the transition and 

18 fielding of QIS technologies; 

19 ‘‘(B) ensure engagement with combatant 

20 commands, defense and private industries, re21 search universities, and unaffiliated, nonprofit 

22 research institutions on matters relating such 

23 QIS technologies; and 

24 ‘‘(C) provide technical advice and support 

25 organizations and elements of the Department 


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1 of Defense, including the Armed Forces, to op2 timize the use of QIS technologies to meet mis3 sion requirements. 

4 ‘‘(5) INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA ENGAGE5 MENT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION IN CONSORTIUM.—The 

7 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 

8 Director of the National Institute of Standards 

9 and Technology, shall ensure that the Principal 

10 Quantum Advisor is included in the activities of 

11 the Quantum Economic Development Consor12 tium established under section 201(b) of the 

13 National Quantum Initiative Act (Public Law 

14 115–368; 15 U.S.C. 8831(b)). 

15 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.—On a quar16 terly basis, the Principal Quantum Advisor 

17 shall conduct outreach and engagement with in18 dustry and academic leaders— 

19 ‘‘(i) to educate organizations in the 

20 QIS industrial base on national security 

21 QIS use cases and operational challenges 

22 faced by the Department that have the po23 tential to be addressed through the use of 

24 QIS technology-based solutions as de25 scribed in paragraph (3); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to the extent determined appro2 priate by the Principal Quantum Advisor, 

3 provide industry with the opportunity to 

4 identify QIS technology-based solutions to 

5 operational challenges faced by the Depart6 ment; 

7 ‘‘(iii) educate organizations in the De8 fense industrial base on near-term and 

9 commercially available QIS technology10 based solutions that provide operationally 

11 relevant warfighting capabilities; 

12 ‘‘(iv) advance relevant QIS supply 

13 chains and manufacturing capabilities 

14 within the United States and among allies 

15 and partners of the United States; and 

16 ‘‘(v) facilitate the commercialization of 

17 QIS technology-based solutions developed 

18 by the research and engineering organiza19 tions of the Department of Defense for 

20 purposes of prototyping and transitioning 

21 such technologies into operational use. 

22 ‘‘(6) ALLIED QUANTUM ENHANCEMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) ALIGNMENT WITH AUKUS EF24 FORTS.—Based on the QIS use cases identified 


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1 under paragraph (3)(A)(ii), the Principal Quan2 tum Advisor shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) identify areas in which the United 

4 Kingdom and Australia, pursuant to Pillar 

5 II the partnership among Australia, the 

6 United Kingdom, and the United States 

7 (commonly known as ‘AUKUS’ ) are pur8 suing technology aligned with such use 

9 cases; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) align Department research and 

11 development and procurement funding in 

12 relation to QIS technologies on accel13 erating opportunities where Australia and 

14 the United Kingdom are pursuing such 

15 technologies. 

16 ‘‘(B) MULTILATERAL AUKUS AND NATO

17 MEETINGS.—The Principal Quantum Advisor 

18 shall organize— 

19 ‘‘(i) a recurring multilateral meeting 

20 of quantum technology experts from the 

21 United States, the United Kingdom, and 

22 Australia to facilitate information-sharing 

23 and planning relevant to QIS technology 

24 and defense-specific use cases for such 

25 technology; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a recurring multilateral meeting 

2 of quantum technology experts from mem3 ber nations of the North Atlantic Treaty 

4 Organization to facilitate such information5 sharing and planning. 

6 ‘‘(c) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PLAN REQUIRED.—The Secretary of De8 fense shall develop strategic plan to guide the devel9 opment, assessment, procurement, and implementa10 tion of QIS technologies within the Department of 

11 Defense over the period of five years following the 

12 date of the plan. 

13 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required under 

14 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) Plans for the continuous evaluation, 

16 development, and implementation of QIS tech17 nology solutions within the Department. 

18 ‘‘(B) Plans for the development, review, 

19 performance evaluation, and adoption of a 

20 fault-tolerant, utility-scale quantum computer 

21 and the transition of that capability to appro22 priate organizations and elements of the De23 partment of Defense, including the Armed 

24 Forces, and such other departments and agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Apr 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7935.IH H7935

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1 cies of the Federal Government as the Sec2 retary determines appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(C) Plans for allocating the resources of 

4 the Department to ensure such resources are 

5 focused on QIS technologies with the potential 

6 to solve operational challenges. 

7 ‘‘(D) Identification of QIS technologies 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(i) have critical defense-specific ap10 plications; 

11 ‘‘(ii) cannot be adapted from commer12 cially available QIS technology; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) are unlikely to be pursued or ac14 celerated by industry because of limited 

15 commercial value. 

16 ‘‘(E) Plans for supporting the development 

17 of capabilities identified under subparagraph 

18 (D). 

19 ‘‘(F) An assessment of the QIS supply 

20 chain, including assessment of— 

21 ‘‘(i) any associated strengths, weak22 nesses, opportunities and threats; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) critical components, suppliers, 

24 and single points of failure. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

2 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a 

4 report that includes the plan developed under para5 graph (1). 

6 ‘‘(d) COMMERCIAL SECURITY STRATEGY.—The Sec7 retary of Defense shall adopt a comprehensive security 

8 strategy for commercially developed capabilities based on 

9 the guide utilized in the Underexplored Systems for Util10 ity-Scale Quantum Computing program of the Defense 

11 Advanced Research Projects Agency. 

12 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL SECURITY QIS ADOPTION ACCEL13 ERATION TESTBED.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of De15 fense, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, 

16 shall establish a national defense quantum informa17 tion science joint center of excellence (referred to in 

18 this section as the ‘Center’). 

19 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZATION.—The Center shall be op20 erated by the Secretary of Defense and shall include 

21 participation from the following organizations: 

22 ‘‘(A) One or more research laboratories of 

23 the Armed Forces. 

24 ‘‘(B) A Department of Energy national 

25 laboratory. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A federally funded research and de2 velopment center or a university-affiliated re3 search center. 

4 ‘‘(3) LOCATION.—The Secretary shall establish 

5 the Center at a location in the United States that 

6 is reasonably accessible to each organization de7 scribed in paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES.—The Center shall carry out 

9 the following activities: 

10 ‘‘(A) Facilitate QIS technology transition 

11 and workforce development activities. 

12 ‘‘(B) Conduct outreach to enhance indus13 try and academia’s understanding of national 

14 security QIS technology use cases and current 

15 operational challenges faced by the Department. 

16 ‘‘(C) Prototype QIS technologies, with pri17 ority given to the prototyping and transition of 

18 QIS-enabled position, navigation, and timing ef19 forts and quantum sensors at technology readi20 ness level six or higher. 

21 ‘‘(D) Integrate the prototyping activities 

22 under subparagraph (C) with the needs of the 

23 unified combatant commands. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Accelerate the transition of advanced 

2 QIS technology from the research and develop3 ment phase into operational use. 

4 ‘‘(F) Expand the QIS workforce of the 

5 United States and the QIS workforces of na6 tions that are allies and partners of the United 

7 States. 

8 ‘‘(5) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 

9 may make grants and enter into contracts and other 

10 agreements, on a competitive basis, to support the 

11 activities of the Center. 

12 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

14 this subsection $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

15 2025 through 2029. 

16 ‘‘(f) RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND WORKFORCE

17 PLANNING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ENHANCEMENT OF RESEARCH OPPORTU19 NITIES.—Not later than one year after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 

21 seek to increase opportunities for the study of QIS 

22 within— 

23 ‘‘(A) the military service academies. 

24 ‘‘(B) the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) other institutions and programs of 

2 the Department of Defense and the Armed 

3 Forces that provide postsecondary and graduate 

4 level education. 

5 ‘‘(2) STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.— 

6 The Secretary of Defense shall direct the chief of 

7 each Armed Force, in consultation with the heads of 

8 the research laboratories under the jurisdiction of 

9 such Armed Force— 

10 ‘‘(A) to adopt internal standard operating 

11 procedures for QIS workforce development to 

12 monitor and evaluate progress toward human 

13 capital goals and human capital programmatic 

14 results; and 

15 ‘‘(B) to involve top management, employ16 ees, and other stakeholders in QIS workforce 

17 planning by— 

18 ‘‘(i) developing and implementing an 

19 enterprise-wide strategic quantum work20 force plan; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) communicating quantum work22 force goals, initiatives, and metrics for 

23 evaluating success throughout each labora24 tory. 

25 ‘‘(g) BUDGET REVIEW.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, 

2 acting through the Under Secretary of Defense 

3 (Comptroller), shall require the Secretaries of the 

4 military departments and the heads of the Defense 

5 Agencies with responsibilities associated with any 

6 QIS activity to transmit the proposed budget for 

7 such activities for a fiscal year and for the period 

8 covered by the future-years defense program sub9 mitted to Congress under section 221 of title 10, 

10 United States Code, for that fiscal year to the Prin11 cipal Quantum Advisor for review before submitting 

12 the proposed budget to the Under Secretary of De13 fense (Comptroller). 

14 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—The Principal 

15 Quantum Advisor shall review each proposed budget 

16 transmitted, and, not later than January 31 of the 

17 year preceding the fiscal year for which the budget 

18 is proposed, shall submit to the Secretary of Defense 

19 a report containing the comments of the Principal 

20 Quantum Advisor with respect to all such proposed 

21 budgets, together with the certification of the Prin22 cipal Quantum Advisor regarding whether each pro23 posed budget is adequate. 

24 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

25 March 31 of each year, the Secretary of Defense 


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1 shall submit to Congress a report specifying each 

2 proposed budget that the Principal Quantum Advi3 sor did not certify to be adequate. The report of the 

4 Secretary shall include the following matters: 

5 ‘‘(A) A discussion of the actions that the 

6 Secretary proposes to take, together with any 

7 recommended legislation that the Secretary con8 siders appropriate, to address the inadequacy of 

9 the proposed budgets specified in the report. 

10 ‘‘(B) Any additional comments that the 

11 Secretary considers appropriate regarding the 

12 inadequacy of the proposed budgets. 

13 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Five Eyes countries’ means the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(A) Australia. 

17 ‘‘(B) Canada. 

18 ‘‘(C) New Zealand. 

19 ‘‘(D) The United Kingdom. 

20 ‘‘(E) The United States. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘quantum information science’ or 

22 ‘QIS’ means the use of the laws of quantum physics 

23 for the storage, transmission, manipulation, com24 puting, or measurement of information.’’. 

Æ 


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