II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4496 

To expand the authorities of the Office of Strategic Capital of the Department 

of Defense. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2024 

Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To expand the authorities of the Office of Strategic Capital 

of the Department of Defense. 

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 ‘‘Investing in Our De5 fense Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO MAKE EQUITY INVESTMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 149 of title 10, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub10 section (f); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol2 lowing new subsection (e): 

3 ‘‘(e) EQUITY INVESTMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office may, as a mi5 nority investor, support eligible investments with 

6 funds or use other mechanisms for the purpose of 

7 purchasing, and may make and fund commitments 

8 to purchase, invest in, make pledges in respect of, or 

9 otherwise acquire, equity or quasi-equity securities 

10 or shares or financial interests of any entity, upon 

11 such terms and conditions as the Director may de12 termine. 

13 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON EQUITY INVESTMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PER PROJECT LIMIT.—The aggregate 

15 amount of support provided under this sub16 section with respect to any eligible investment 

17 shall not exceed 20 percent of the aggregate 

18 amount of all equity investment made to the 

19 project at the time that the Office approves 

20 support for the eligible investment. 

21 ‘‘(B) TOTAL LIMIT.—Support provided 

22 under this subsection shall be limited to not 

23 more than 35 percent of the aggregate exposure 

24 of the Office on the date on which the support 

25 is provided. 


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1 ‘‘(3) SALES AND LIQUIDATION OF SUPPORT.— 

2 The Office shall seek to sell and liquidate any sup3 port for an eligible investment provided under this 

4 subsection as soon as commercially feasible, com5 mensurate with other similar investors in the project 

6 and taking into consideration the national security 

7 interests of the United States. 

8 ‘‘(4) TIMETABLE.—The Office shall create an 

9 eligible investment-specific timetable for support pro10 vided under paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(5) BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF EQUITY IN12 VESTMENTS.—Support provided under this sub13 section shall constitute a credit program under the 

14 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 621 

15 et seq.), and the budgetary cost of equity invest16 ments shall accordingly be calculated on a net17 present basis.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (f)(1) 

19 of such section, as redesignated by subsection (a), is fur20 ther amended by inserting ‘‘, equity investment’’ after 

21 ‘‘loan guarantee’’. 

22 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO INVEST IN CRITICAL MIN23 ERALS. 

24 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that the Office of Strategic Capital should seek to 


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1 invest in critical minerals in support of the policy de2 scribed in section 1414 of the National Defense Authoriza3 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118–31; 137 

4 Stat. 528; 10 U.S.C. 4811 note). 

5 (b) INVESTMENTS IN CRITICAL MINERALS.—Section 

6 149(f)(3) of title 10, United States Code, as amended by 

7 section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(FF) Critical minerals.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO COLLECT FEES FOR PRO11 VIDING CAPITAL INVESTMENTS. 

12 Section 149 of title 10, United States Code, as 

13 amended by section 2, is further amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub15 section (g); and 

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol17 lowing new subsection (f): 

18 ‘‘(f) FEE AUTHORITY.—The Director may charge 

19 and collect fees for providing capital assistance in amounts 

20 to be determined by the Director. Such fees, once col21 lected, may be used only for the purposes and to the extent 

22 provided in advance by appropriations Acts.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. HIRING AUTHORITIES. 

24 Section 149 of title 10, United States Code, as 

25 amended by sections 2 and 4, is further amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub2 section (h); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol4 lowing new subsection (g): 

5 ‘‘(g) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro7 vided in this section, officers, employees, and agents 

8 of the Office shall be selected and appointed by the 

9 Director, and shall be vested with such powers and 

10 duties as the Director may determine. 

11 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVELY DETERMINED EM12 PLOYEES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT; COMPENSATION; RE14 MOVAL.—Of officers and employees employed 

15 by the Office under paragraph (1), not more 

16 than 50 may be appointed, compensated, or re17 moved without regard to title 5. 

18 ‘‘(B) REINSTATEMENT.—Under such regu19 lations as the Secretary of Defense may pre20 scribe, officers and employees appointed to a 

21 position under subparagraph (A) may be enti22 tled, upon removal from such position (unless 

23 the removal was for cause), to reinstatement to 

24 the position occupied at the time of appointVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 Jul 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4496.IS S4496

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1 ment or to a position of comparable grade and 

2 salary. 

3 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL POSITIONS.—Positions 

4 authorized by subparagraph (A) shall be in ad5 dition to those otherwise authorized by law, in6 cluding positions authorized under section 5108 

7 of title 5. 

8 ‘‘(D) RATES OF PAY FOR OFFICERS AND

9 EMPLOYEES.—The Director may set and adjust 

10 rates of basic pay for officers and employees 

11 appointed under subparagraph (A) without re12 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 or sub13 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, relating to 

14 classification of positions and General Schedule 

15 pay rates, respectively.’’. 

Æ 


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