II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1126 

To modify and extend the National Guard State Partnership Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 29, 2015 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. ERNST, Mrs. CAPITO, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To modify and extend the National Guard State Partnership 

Program. 

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 ‘‘State Partnership Pro5 gram Enhancement Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF NATIONAL 

7 GUARD STATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

8 (a) AUTHORITY.—Subsection (a)(1) of section 1205 

9 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1126 IS

1 2014 (Public Law 113–66; 127 Stat. 897; 32 U.S.C. 107 

2 note) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘whose primary functions in4 clude disaster response or emergency response,’’; 

5 and 

6 (2) by adding at the end before the period the 

7 following: ‘‘to support the national interests and se8 curity cooperation goals and objectives of the United 

9 States as defined by the current and evolving na10 tional global strategic policies of the United States’’. 

11 (b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (b) of such section is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘whose primary functions include 

13 disaster response or emergency response’’. 

14 (c) REGULATIONS.—Subsection (c) of such section is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ROLE OF CHIEF OF THE NATIONAL GUARD

18 BUREAU.—The Chief of the National Guard Bureau 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) establish, maintain, and update as 

21 appropriate a list of core competencies of the 

22 National Guard to support each program estab23 lished under subsection (a), collectively and for 

24 each State and territory, and shall submit to 

25 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1126 IS

1 State the list of core competencies of the Na2 tional Guard and additional information needed 

3 to make use of such core competencies; and 

4 ‘‘(B) designate a director for each State 

5 and territory who shall be responsible for the 

6 conduct of activities under a program estab7 lished under subsection (a) for such State or 

8 territory and reporting on activities under the 

9 program. 

10 ‘‘(2) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—The 

11 Secretary of Defense shall ensure that regulations to 

12 carry out this section include planning, coordinating, 

13 and execution requirements with the commanders of 

14 applicable combatant commands and that activities 

15 under a program established under subsection (a) 

16 meet the relevant theater security cooperation objec17 tives. 

18 ‘‘(3) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF STATE.—The 

19 Secretary of State shall ensure that the regulations 

20 to carry out this section include planning, coordi21 nating, and execution requirements with the relevant 

22 chiefs of mission and that activities under a program 

23 established under subsection (a) meet the diplomatic 

24 objectives of the Department of State.’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1126 IS

1 (d) NATIONAL GUARD STATE PARTNERSHIP PRO2 GRAM FUND.—Subsection (d) of such section is amended 

3 to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL GUARD STATE PARTNERSHIP PRO5 GRAM FUND.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby estab7 lished on the books of the Treasury the National 

8 Guard State Partnership Program Fund (in this 

9 subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’). 

10 ‘‘(2) CREDITS TO FUND.—There shall be cred11 ited to the Fund the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) Amounts authorized for and appro13 priated to the Fund. 

14 ‘‘(B) Amounts that the Secretary of De15 fense transfers, in such amounts as provided in 

16 appropriations Acts, to the Fund from amounts 

17 authorized and appropriated to the Department 

18 of Defense, including amounts authorized to be 

19 appropriated for the Army National Guard and 

20 the Air National Guard. 

21 ‘‘(3) USE OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—In such 

22 amounts as provided in appropriations Acts, the Sec23 retary of Defense may use amounts in the Fund— 

24 ‘‘(A) for payment of costs incurred by the 

25 National Guard of a State or territory to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1126.IS S1126

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1126 IS

1 duct activities under a program established 

2 under subsection (a), including costs for per3 sonnel, training, operations, and equipment; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) for payment of incremental expenses 

6 of a foreign country to conduct activities under 

7 a program established under subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ACTIVE DUTY REQUIREMENT.— 

10 Amounts shall not be available under paragraph 

11 (3) for the participation of a member of the 

12 National Guard of a State or territory in activi13 ties in a foreign country unless the member is 

14 on active duty in the Armed Forces at the time 

15 of such participation. 

16 ‘‘(B) INCREMENTAL EXPENSES.—The total 

17 amount of payments for incremental expenses 

18 of foreign countries as authorized under para19 graph (3)(B) for activities under programs es20 tablished under subsection (a) in any fiscal year 

21 may not exceed $10,000,000.’’. 

22 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Subsection (e) of such section 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘(e) REPORTS AND NOTIFICA25 TIONS.—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(B) MATVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1126.IS S1126

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1126 IS

1 TERS TO BE INCLUDED.—’’ and inserting the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31 

5 of each year following a fiscal year in which activi6 ties under a program established under subsection 

7 (a) are carried out, the Secretary of Defense, in co8 ordination with the Secretary of State, shall submit 

9 to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

10 on such activities under the program. 

11 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—’’; 

12 (2) by redesignating clauses (i) through (v) as 

13 subparagraphs (A) through (E), respectively, and 

14 adjusting the margin of such subparagraphs, as so 

15 redesignated, two ems to the left; and 

16 (3) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (C) (as redesignated), 

18 by inserting ‘‘or other government organiza19 tions’’ after ‘‘and security forces’’; 

20 (B) in subparagraph (D) (as redesignated), 

21 by adding at the end before the period the fol22 lowing: ‘‘or chief of mission’’; 

23 (C) in subparagraph (E) (as redesignated), 

24 by adding at the end before the period the fol25 lowing: ‘‘or how the activities support the chief 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1126 IS

1 of mission with responsibilities for the country 

2 in which the activities occurred’’; and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(F) A performance review of activities 

5 conducted during the previous year using 

6 metrics developed by the Chief of the National 

7 Guard Bureau.’’. 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (g) of such section is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para11 graph (3); 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(2) CORE COMPETENCIES.—The term ‘core 

15 competencies’ or ‘core competencies of the National 

16 Guard’ means military-to-military and military-to-ci17 vilian skills and capabilities of the National Guard 

18 that would contribute the purpose of the program 

19 established under subsection (a).’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

22 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Vir24 gin Islands.’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1126 IS

1 (g) REPEAL OF TERMINATION.—Such section is fur2 ther amended by striking subsection (i). 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS