II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5497 

To promote military readiness by ensuring the Department of Defense retains 

the right to repair equipment it acquires and owns. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Ms. WARREN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To promote military readiness by ensuring the Department 

of Defense retains the right to repair equipment it acquires and owns. 

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 ‘‘Servicemember Right5 to-Repair Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF OPERATION AND 

2 SUSTAINMENT COST SAVINGS AS PART OF 

3 ACQUISITION STRATEGIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4211(c) of title 10, 

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(3)(A) Each strategy shall include not fewer than 

8 3 cost-saving proposals, each of which shall include— 

9 ‘‘(i) the amount of money projected to be saved; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the expected time frame for achieving the 

11 savings; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the likelihood of achieving the savings. 

13 ‘‘(B) The cost savings required under subparagraph 

14 (A)— 

15 ‘‘(i) may be achieved through potential invest16 ments that would substantially reduce operating and 

17 support costs over the lifecycle of the program; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) may not be achieved through reducing per19 formance requirements, reducing materiel and oper20 ational availability rates, or buying fewer end 

21 items.’’. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of De24 fense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall submit to the 

25 congressional defense committees and publish on a pub26 licly available website of the Department of Defense a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jan 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5497.IS S5497

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1 port that identifies the cost-saving proposals required by 

2 section 4211(c)(3) of title 10, United States Code, as 

3 added by this section. 

4 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF REPAIR COSTS ASSOCIATED 

5 WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. 

6 Section 4323(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new para8 graph: 

9 ‘‘(11) An evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the 

10 implementation by the Department of Defense of the intel11 lectual property strategy for system support, including an 

12 assessment of cost saving from the acquisition or use of 

13 intellectual property or increased support costs from fail14 ing to acquire or use sufficient intellectual property.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR CONTRACTORS TO PROVIDE 

16 REASONABLE ACCESS TO REPAIR MATE17 RIALS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 363 of title 10, United 

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 4663. Requirement for contractors to provide rea22 sonable access to repair materials 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency may not 

24 enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or serv25 ices unless the contractor agrees in writing to provide the 


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1 Department of Defense fair and reasonable access to all 

2 the repair materials, including parts, tools, and informa3 tion, used by the manufacturer or provider or their author4 ized repair providers to diagnose, maintain, or repair the 

5 good or service. 

6 ‘‘(b) FAIR AND REASONABLE ACCESS DEFINED.—In 

7 this section, the term ‘fair and reasonable access’ means, 

8 as applicable— 

9 ‘‘(1) terms and conditions that allow the De10 partment of Defense to provide the repair materials 

11 to an authorized contractor for the purpose of diag12 nosing, maintaining, or repairing the good or serv13 ice; 

14 ‘‘(2) provision at prices, terms, and conditions 

15 that are equivalent to the most favorable prices, 

16 terms, and conditions under which the manufacturer 

17 or an authorized reseller or distributor offers the 

18 part, tool, or information to an authorized repair 

19 provider, accounting for any discount, rebate, con20 venient and timely means of delivery, means of ena21 bling fully restored and updated functionality, rights 

22 of use, or other incentive or preference the manufac23 turer or an authorized reseller or distributor offers 

24 to an authorized repair provider; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) if a manufacturer does not offer, directly 

2 or through an authorized reseller or distributor, the 

3 part, tool, or information to any authorized repair 

4 provider, then provision of such part, tool, or infor5 mation at prices, terms, and conditions that are oth6 erwise determined by the United States Government 

7 to be fair and reasonable in accordance with this 

8 title.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of chapter 363 of title 10, United States 

11 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

12 section 4662 the following new item: 

‘‘4663. Requirement for contractors to provide reasonable access to repair materials.’’. 

13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

15 the United States shall submit to the congressional de16 fense committees a report on the implementation of sec17 tion 4663 of title 10, United States Code, as added by 

18 this section, including a description of compliance by the 

19 Department of Defense with the requirements of such sec20 tion. 

21 SEC. 5. RIGHTS IN TECHNICAL DATA. 

22 Section 3771(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘mainte2 nance,’’ and inserting ‘‘maintenance, diagnosis, re3 pair,’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ‘‘such 

5 data’’ and inserting ‘‘such data, unless further re6 lease, disclosure, or use is required to provide the re7 pair or overhaul’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (5)(B)— 

9 (A) by redesignating clauses (ii) through 

10 (iv) as clauses (iii) through (v), respectively; 

11 and 

12 (B) by inserting after clause (i) the fol13 lowing new clause: 

14 ‘‘(ii) The interest of the United States 

15 in balancing acquisition and sustainment 

16 costs, and enhancing military readiness, by 

17 ensuring the United States has access on 

18 fair and reasonable terms, consistent with 

19 section 4663 of this title, to repair mate20 rials required to effect the diagnosis, main21 tenance, and repair of the items it owns or 

22 acquires.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ACCOUNTING OF COMPLIANCE WITH RIGHT-TO-RE2 PAIR REQUIREMENTS. 

3 (a) ACCOUNTING FOR RIGHT-TO-REPAIR OBSTRUC4 TIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of De6 fense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in coordina7 tion with the Secretaries of the military depart8 ments, shall establish a system to account for right9 to-repair obstructions. The system shall include a re10 quirement for members of the Armed Forces respon11 sible for the maintenance and sustainment of equip12 ment to log right-to-repair obstructions, including 

13 the information described in paragraph (2). 

14 (2) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The in15 formation referred to in paragraph (1) is as follows: 

16 (A) Whether the Department of Defense 

17 owns the equipment that was the subject of the 

18 right-to-repair obstruction. 

19 (B) The identity of the contractor that re20 paired the equipment. 

21 (C) A description of the equipment and the 

22 nature of the repair. 

23 (D) An explanation of why members of the 

24 Armed Forces were not able to repair the 

25 equipment. 


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1 (E) The length of time the contractor took 

2 to repair the equipment. 

3 (b) ANNUAL REPORT OF RIGHT-TO-REPAIR OB4 STRUCTIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the enact5 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Assistant 

6 Secretary of Defense for Sustainment shall post on a pub7 licly available website and submit to the congressional de8 fense committees a report summarizing the information 

9 about right-to-repair obstructions logged pursuant to sub10 section (a) during the previous fiscal year. 

11 (c) RIGHT-TO-REPAIR OBSTRUCTION DEFINED.—In 

12 this section, the term ‘‘right-to-repair obstruction’’ means 

13 any instance where due to circumstances created or condi14 tions imposed by the contractor, it is necessary for— 

15 (1) the contractor to travel to the military in16 stallation or facility to repair the equipment; 

17 (2) military personnel to ship the equipment to 

18 the contractor for repair; or 

19 (3) military personnel to discard, abandon, or 

20 decommission the equipment. 

21 SEC. 7. GAO COMPLIANCE REPORT. 

22 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Comp24 troller General of the United States shall submit to the 


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1 congressional defense committees a report that assesses 

2 the compliance of the Secretary of Defense with— 

3 (1) the requirements of this Act; 

4 (2) the requirements of section 4211(c), section 

5 4323(b), and 3771(b) of title 10, as amended by this 

6 Act, and section 4663 of title 10, as added by this 

7 Act; and 

8 (3) any related matter as determined by the 

9 Comptroller General. 

10 SEC. 8. CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DEFINED. 

11 In this Act, the term ‘‘congressional defense commit12 tees’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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