I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7148 

To establish a United States-Israel Operations-Technology Working Group, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2020 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a United States-Israel Operations-Technology 

Working Group, 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 ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 Military Capability Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The United States confronts an intense 

2 military technology competition with the People’s 

3 Republic of China and the Russian Federation that 

4 may determine whether the United States can effec5 tively deter and defeat adversaries in the future. 

6 (2) On July 11, 2019, Chairman of the Joint 

7 Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, ‘‘China is 

8 improving their military very, very rapidly in space, 

9 air, cyber, maritime, land domains, et cetera.’’. Not10 ing the rapid technology development by the People’s 

11 Republic of China, General Milley warned that the 

12 United States must ensure ‘‘that we do not lose our 

13 advantages that we have relative to other countries, 

14 specifically relative to China.’’. 

15 (3) The People’s Republic of China and the 

16 Russian Federation have already developed or field17 ed some capabilities in areas such as hypersonics 

18 and artificial intelligence that are superior to those 

19 of the United States. 

20 (4) A closer and more systematic early coopera21 tive research and development effort with select al22 lies may help the United States more quickly and in23 expensively restore and sustain military supremacy 

24 in critical military capabilities. 


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1 (5) The innovative and agile defense technology 

2 sector of Israel and the status of Israel as one of the 

3 closest and most reliable allies of the United States 

4 make Israel an ideal candidate for a more systematic 

5 and institutionalized partnership with the United 

6 States focused on early cooperative research and de7 velopment. 

8 (6) The defense innovation sector of Israel is a 

9 global leader in many of the technologies important 

10 to Department of Defense modernization efforts. 

11 (7) Despite many laudable ongoing defense 

12 partnership efforts between the United States and 

13 Israel, dangerous United States military capability 

14 gaps continue to emerge that a more systematic and 

15 institutionalized United States-Israel early coopera16 tive research and development program could have 

17 prevented. 

18 (8) Such a program would allow the United 

19 States to benefit from the innovation agility and 

20 sense of urgency of Israel, and Israel would benefit 

21 from the economy of scale of the United States. 

22 Such a program could be carefully designed to re23 duce the time and cost associated with research and 

24 development, assiduously avoiding anything that 


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1 would slow down or constrain the research and de2 velopment of either country. 

3 (9) Belatedly acquiring already produced equip4 ment or weapons from Israel to fill a United States 

5 capability gap is not a substitute for a systematic 

6 program that prevents the capability gap from 

7 emerging in the first place. 

8 (10) On March 4, 2020, Secretary of Defense 

9 Mark Esper said, ‘‘We have a very good innovative 

10 base, [the Israelis] have a very good innovative base. 

11 And I think the more we can cooperate together as 

12 allies and partners to come up with common solu13 tions, the better.’’. Secretary Esper continued, ‘‘so I 

14 think if there are ways to improve that, we should 

15 pursue it.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (1) the United States Government has a re19 sponsibility to undertake all reasonable measures to 

20 ensure that members of the Armed Forces never 

21 confront a more technologically advanced foe; and 

22 (2) building on positive ongoing efforts, the 

23 United States and Israel should further institu24 tionalize and strengthen their defense innovation 

25 partnership by establishing a United States-Israel 


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1 Operations-Technology Working Group to identify 

2 and expeditiously field capabilities that the military 

3 forces of both countries need to deter and defeat re4 spective adversaries. 

5 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL OPERATIONS-TECHNOLOGY 

6 WORKING GROUP. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De9 fense, with the concurrence of the Minister of Defense of 

10 Israel and in consultation with the Secretary of State and 

11 the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a 

12 United States-Israel Operations-Technology Working 

13 Group (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’) 

14 for the following purposes: 

15 (1) To provide a standing forum for the United 

16 States and Israel to systematically share intel17 ligence-informed military capability requirements. 

18 (2) To identify military capability requirements 

19 common to both the Department of Defense and the 

20 Ministry of Defense of Israel. 

21 (3) To assist defense suppliers in the United 

22 States and Israel with efforts to expeditiously gain 

23 government approval to conduct joint science, tech24 nology, research, development, test, evaluation, and 

25 production efforts. 


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1 (4) To develop, as feasible and advisable, com2 bined United States-Israel plans to research, de3 velop, procure, and field weapons systems and mili4 tary capabilities as quickly and economically as pos5 sible to meet common capability requirements of the 

6 Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defense 

7 of Israel. 

8 (b) WORKING GROUP LEADERSHIP.— 

9 (1) UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP.—With re10 spect to the United States, the Working Group shall 

11 be headed by the Under Secretary of Defense for 

12 Research and Engineering and the Director of the 

13 Joint Staff, with the active support of the Director 

14 of the Bureau of Political Military Affairs of the De15 partment of State and the Director of National In16 telligence. 

17 (2) ISRAEL LEADERSHIP.—The Secretary of 

18 Defense shall invite the Government of Israel to des19 ignate the head of the appropriate office or offices 

20 to head the Working Group with respect to Israel. 

21 (c) WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 (1) UNITED STATES MEMBERSHIP.—The Sec23 retary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the 

24 Director of National Intelligence shall each desVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7148.IH H7148

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1 ignate one or more individuals to serve as members 

2 of the Working Group. 

3 (A) MANDATORY UNITED STATES MEM4 BERS.—The membership of the Working Group 

5 shall consist of, at a minimum, representatives 

6 from— 

7 (i) the Office of the Secretary of De8 fense; 

9 (ii) the Joint Staff; 

10 (iii) each of the military departments 

11 (including, as appropriate, subordinate en12 tities such as Army Futures Command and 

13 research laboratories); 

14 (iv) the defense agencies (including 

15 the Defense Advanced Research Projects 

16 Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, 

17 and the Defense Security Cooperation 

18 Agency); 

19 (v) United States Central Command; 

20 (vi) United States European Com21 mand; 

22 (vii) United States Indo-Pacific Com23 mand; 

24 (viii) the Department of State; and 

25 (ix) the intelligence community. 


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1 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this paragraph shall be construed as limiting 

3 the ability of the Secretary of Defense, the Sec4 retary of State, or the Director of National In5 telligence to add members to the Working 

6 Group as considered appropriate. 

7 (2) ISRAEL MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary of 

8 Defense, the Secretary of State, and the Director of 

9 National Intelligence shall invite their counterparts 

10 in the Government of Israel to designate individuals 

11 from the Government of Israel to serve as members 

12 of the Working Group. 

13 (3) REPRESENTATION OF DEFENSE INDUS14 TRY.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 

16 may incorporate recommendations from the de17 fense industries of the United States and Israel 

18 with respect to combined science and technology 

19 efforts and combined research, development, 

20 test, and evaluation efforts. 

21 (B) INCLUSION IN WORKING GROUP.—The 

22 membership of the Working Group may include, 

23 as appropriate, members of the defense indus24 tries of the United States and Israel. 

25 (d) EXISTING EFFORTS.— 


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

2 the Secretary of State, and the Director of National 

3 Intelligence shall jointly determine the most efficient 

4 and effective means to integrate the Working Group 

5 into existing United States science and technology 

6 efforts and research, development, test, and evalua7 tion efforts with Israel. 

8 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

9 Act shall be construed as requiring the termination 

10 of any existing United States defense activity, group, 

11 program, or partnership with Israel. 

12 (e) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

14 shall, with the concurrence of the Minister of De15 fense of Israel, establish a memorandum of under16 standing between the United States and Israel es17 tablishing the United States-Israel Operations Tech18 nology Working Group. 

19 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The memo20 randum of understanding under paragraph (1) shall 

21 set forth— 

22 (A) the purposes of the Working Group, 

23 consistent with subsection (a); 

24 (B) the membership of the Working 

25 Group, consistent with subsection (c); and 


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1 (C) any other matter considered appro2 priate. 

3 (f) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) INITIAL REPORT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 

8 Secretary of State and the Director of National 

9 Intelligence, shall submit to the appropriate 

10 committees of Congress an initial report on the 

11 Working Group. 

12 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

13 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

14 (i) The finalized memorandum of un15 derstanding under subsection (e). 

16 (ii) The name of each individual of 

17 the Government of the United States and 

18 of the Government of Israel designated to 

19 lead the Working Group. 

20 (iii) The name of each member of the 

21 Working Group designated under para22 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (c). 

23 (iv) A description of the manner in 

24 which the Working Group is anticipated to 

25 complement and augment existing science 


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1 and technology efforts and research, devel2 opment, test, and evaluation efforts with 

3 Israel. 

4 (v) A schedule for Working Group 

5 meetings. 

6 (vi) A description of key metrics and 

7 milestones for the Working Group. 

8 (vii) A description of any authority or 

9 authorization of appropriations required 

10 for the Working Group to carry out the 

11 purposes described in subsection (a). 

12 (C) FORM.—The report required by sub13 paragraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassi14 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 

15 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 

17 15 of each year following the submittal of the 

18 report required by paragraph (1), the Secretary 

19 of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary 

20 of State and the Director of National Intel21 ligence, shall submit to the appropriate commit22 tees of Congress a report on the activities of the 

23 Working Group during the preceding calendar 

24 year. 


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1 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

2 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

3 (i) A summary of the performance of 

4 the Working Group relative to— 

5 (I) with respect to the first an6 nual report under this paragraph, the 

7 metrics and milestones described in 

8 the initial report in accordance with in 

9 paragraph (1)(B)(vi); or 

10 (II) with respect to each subse11 quent annual report under this para12 graph, the metrics and milestones de13 scribed in the preceding annual report 

14 under clause (viii). 

15 (ii) A description of military capabili16 ties needed by both the United States and 

17 Israel. 

18 (iii) A description of any United 

19 States, or any United States-Israel, science 

20 and technology efforts, or research, devel21 opment, test, and evaluation efforts, asso22 ciated with the military capabilities de23 scribed under clause (ii) carried out during 

24 the reporting period. 


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1 (iv) A description of any obstacle or 

2 challenge associated with an effort de3 scribed in clause (iii) and the plan of the 

4 Working Group to address such obstacle or 

5 challenge. 

6 (v) A description of any request to the 

7 Working Group made by a United States 

8 or Israel defense supplier for combined 

9 science and technology efforts or combined 

10 research, development, test, and evaluation 

11 efforts, including— 

12 (I) the date on which the request 

13 was received; 

14 (II) the efforts made by the 

15 Working Group to expeditiously ad16 dress the request; and 

17 (III) the status of any decision 

18 associated with the request. 

19 (vi) A description of the efforts of the 

20 Working Group to prevent the People’s Re21 public of China or the Russian Federation 

22 from obtaining intellectual property or 

23 military technology associated with com24 bined United States and Israel science and 


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1 technology efforts and research, develop2 ment, test, and evaluation efforts. 

3 (vii) A description of any science and 

4 technology effort, or research, develop5 ment, test, or evaluation effort, facilitated 

6 by the Working Group, including efforts 

7 that result in a United States or Israel 

8 program of record. 

9 (viii) A description of metrics and 

10 milestones for the Working Group for the 

11 following calendar year. 

12 (C) FORM.—The report required by sub13 paragraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassi14 fied form and shall include a classified annex in 

15 which the elements required under clauses (ii) 

16 and (vi) of subparagraph (B) shall be ad17 dressed. 

18 (3) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

19 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro20 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

22 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Select 

23 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

24 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

25 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the PermaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7148.IH H7148

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1 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

2 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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