II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2294 

To require an independent assessment with respect to the Arctic region 

and establishment of Arctic Security Initiative, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require an independent assessment with respect to the 

Arctic region and establishment of Arctic Security Initiative, 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 ‘‘Arctic Security Initia5 tive Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) the security, stability, and prosperity of the 

9 Arctic region are vital to the national interests of 

10 the United States; 


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1 (2) the United States should posture a military 

2 capability in the region that is able to project power, 

3 deter acts of aggression, and respond, if necessary, 

4 to threats within and arising from the Arctic region; 

5 (3) the defense of the United States and its al6 lies from the People’s Republic of China, the Rus7 sian Federation, the Democratic People’s Republic 

8 of Korea, and any other aggressor remains a top pri9 ority; 

10 (4) persistent efforts by the Department of De11 fense to realign United States forces in the Arctic 

12 region, and commit additional assets to and increase 

13 investments in the Arctic region, are necessary to 

14 maintain a robust United States commitment to the 

15 Arctic region; 

16 (5) the United States commitment to freedom 

17 of navigation and ensuring free access to sea lanes 

18 and overflights for the Navy and the Air Force re19 mains a core security interest; and 

20 (6) the United States should continue to engage 

21 in the Arctic region by— 

22 (A) strengthening alliances and partner23 ships; 

24 (B) supporting regional institutions and 

25 bodies such as the Arctic Council; 


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1 (C) building cooperative security arrange2 ments; 

3 (D) addressing shared challenges; and 

4 (E) reinforcing the role of international 

5 law, including respect for human rights. 

6 SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 15, 

8 2022, the Commander of the United States Northern 

9 Command, in consultation and coordination with the Com10 manders of the United States European Command and 

11 the United States Indo-Pacific Command, the military de12 partments, and defense agencies, shall conduct an inde13 pendent assessment with respect to the activities and re14 sources required, for fiscal years 2023 through 2027, to 

15 achieve the following objectives: 

16 (1) The implementation of the National De17 fense Strategy and military service-specific strategies 

18 with respect to the Arctic region. 

19 (2) The maintenance or restoration of the com20 parative military advantage of the United States in 

21 response to great power competitors in the Arctic re22 gion. 

23 (3) The reduction of the risk of executing oper24 ation and contingency plans of the Department of 

25 Defense. 


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1 (4) To maximize execution of Department oper2 ation and contingency plans, in the event deterrence 

3 fails. 

4 (b) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by sub5 section (a) shall include the following: 

6 (1) An analysis of, and recommended changes 

7 to achieve, the required force structure and posture 

8 of assigned and allocated forces within the Arctic re9 gion for fiscal year 2027 necessary to achieve the 

10 objectives described in subsection (a), which shall be 

11 informed by— 

12 (A) a review of United States military re13 quirements based on operation and contingency 

14 plans, capabilities of potential adversaries, as15 sessed gaps or shortfalls of the Armed Forces 

16 within the Arctic region, and scenarios that 

17 consider— 

18 (i) potential contingencies that com19 mence in the Arctic region and contin20 gencies that commence in other regions but 

21 affect the Arctic region; 

22 (ii) use of near-time, mid-time, and 

23 far-time horizons to encompass the range 

24 of circumstances required to test new con25 cepts and doctrine; and 


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1 (iii) supporting analyses that focus on 

2 the number of regionally postured military 

3 units and the quality of capability of such 

4 units; 

5 (B) a review of current United States mili6 tary force posture and deployment plans within 

7 the Arctic region, especially of Arctic-based 

8 forces that provide support to, or receive sup9 port from, the United States Northern Com10 mand, the United States Indo-Pacific Com11 mand, or the United States European Com12 mand; 

13 (C) an analysis of potential future realign14 ments of United States forces in the region, in15 cluding options for strengthening United States 

16 presence, access, readiness, training, exercises, 

17 logistics, and pre-positioning; and 

18 (D) any other matter the Commander of 

19 the United States Northern Command deter20 mines to be appropriate. 

21 (2) A discussion of any factor that may influ22 ence the United States posture, supported by annual 

23 wargames and other forms of research and analysis. 

24 (3) An assessment of capabilities requirements 

25 to achieve such objectives. 


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1 (4) An assessment of logistics requirements, in2 cluding personnel, equipment, supplies, storage, and 

3 maintenance needs to achieve such objectives. 

4 (5) An assessment and identification of re5 quired infrastructure and military construction in6 vestments to achieve such objectives. 

7 (6) An assessment of security cooperation ac8 tivities or resources required to achieve such objec9 tives. 

10 (7) An assessment and recommended changes 

11 to the leadership, organization, and management of 

12 Arctic policy, strategy, and operations among the 

13 combatant commands and military services. 

14 (c) REPORT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 15, 

16 2022, the Commander of United States Northern 

17 Command, in consultation and coordination with the 

18 Commanders of the United States European Com19 mand and the United States Indo-Pacific Command, 

20 shall submit to the congressional defense committees 

21 (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States 

22 Code) a report on the assessment required by sub23 section (a). 


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1 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

2 (1) may be submitted in classified form, but shall in3 clude an unclassified summary. 

4 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Not later than February 

5 15, 2022, the Commander of the United States 

6 Northern Command shall make the report available 

7 to the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of 

8 Defense for Policy, the Under Secretary of Defense 

9 (Comptroller), the Director of Cost Assessment and 

10 Program Evaluation, the Chairman of the Joint 

11 Chiefs of Staff, the Secretaries of the military de12 partments, and the chiefs of staff of each military 

13 service. 

14 SEC. 4. ARCTIC SECURITY INITIATIVE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

16 carry out a program of activities to enhance security in 

17 the Arctic region, which shall be known as the ‘‘Arctic Se18 curity Initiative’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Initia19 tive’’). 

20 (b) OBJECTIVES.—The Initiative’s development and 

21 subsequent implementation shall be— 

22 (1) consistent with the objectives described in 

23 section 3(a); and 

24 (2) informed by the assessment required by 

25 that section. 


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1 (c) ACTIVITIES.—The Initiative shall carry out the 

2 following prioritized activities to improve the design and 

3 posture of the joint force in the Arctic region: 

4 (1) Modernize and strengthen the presence of 

5 the Armed Forces, including those with advanced ca6 pabilities. 

7 (2) Improve logistics and maintenance capabili8 ties and the pre-positioning of equipment, munitions, 

9 fuel, and materiel. 

10 (3) Carry out a program of exercises, war11 games, education, training, experimentation, and in12 novation for the joint force. 

13 (4) Improve infrastructure to enhance the re14 sponsiveness and resiliency of the Armed Forces. 

15 (5) Build the defense and security capabilities, 

16 capacity, and cooperation of allies and partners. 

17 (6) Strengthen Arctic consultative mechanisms 

18 and collaborative planning. 

19 (d) FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR THE INITIATIVE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 15, 

21 2022, and each February 15 thereafter, the Sec22 retary of Defense, in consultation with the Com23 manders of the United States Northern Command, 

24 the United States European Command, and the 

25 United States Indo-Pacific Command shall submit to 


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1 the congressional defense committees a future years 

2 plan for the activities and resources of the Initiative 

3 that includes the following: 

4 (A) A description of the activities and re5 sources for the first fiscal year beginning after 

6 the date of on which the report required by sec7 tion 3(c) is submitted and the plan for not 

8 fewer than the four following fiscal years, orga9 nized by the activities described in subsection 

10 (c). 

11 (B) A summary of progress made towards 

12 achieving the objectives described in section 

13 3(a). 

14 (C) A summary of the activity, resource, 

15 capability, infrastructure, and logistics require16 ments necessary to achieve measurable progress 

17 in reducing risk to the ability of the joint force 

18 to achieve objectives in the Arctic region, in19 cluding through investments in— 

20 (i) active and passive defenses 

21 against— 

22 (I) manned aircraft, surface ves23 sels, and submarines; 

24 (II) unmanned naval systems; 


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1 (III) unmanned aerial systems; 

2 and 

3 (IV) theater cruise, ballistic, and 

4 hypersonic missiles; 

5 (ii) advanced long-range precision 

6 strike systems; 

7 (iii) command, control, communica8 tions, computers, intelligence, surveillance, 

9 and reconnaissance systems; 

10 (iv) training and test range capacity, 

11 capability, and coordination; 

12 (v) dispersed resilient and adaptive 

13 basing to support distributed operations, 

14 including expeditionary airfields and ports, 

15 space launch facilities, and command 

16 posts; 

17 (vi) advanced critical munitions; 

18 (vii) pre-positioned forward stocks of 

19 fuel, munitions, equipment, and materiel; 

20 (viii) distributed logistics and mainte21 nance capabilities; 

22 (ix) strategic mobility assets, includ23 ing icebreakers; 

24 (x) improved interoperability, logistics, 

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1 ture, and information sharing with allies 

2 and partners, including scientific missions; 

3 (xi) information operations capabili4 ties; 

5 (xii) bilateral and multilateral military 

6 exercises and training with allies and part7 ners; and 

8 (xiii) use of security cooperation au9 thorities to further build partner capacity. 

10 (D) A detailed timeline for achieving the 

11 requirements identified under subparagraph 

12 (C). 

13 (E) A detailed explanation of any signifi14 cant modification to such requirements, as com15 pared to the Commander of the United States 

16 Northern Command’s initial independent as17 sessment for the first fiscal year and to plans 

18 previously submitted for each subsequent fiscal 

19 year. 

20 (F) Any other matter the Secretary of De21 fense considers necessary. 

22 (2) FORM.—The plan required by paragraph 

23 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 

24 include a classified annex. 


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1 (3) INCLUSION IN BUDGET MATERIALS.—The 

2 Secretary of Defense shall include such plan in the 

3 budget materials submitted by the Secretary in sup4 port of the budget of the President for fiscal year 

5 2023 (submitted pursuant to section 1105 of title 

6 31, United States Code). 

7 SEC. 5. GENERAL TRANSFER AUTHORITY. 

8 Funds may be made available to carry out this Act 

9 through the transfer authority provided to the Department 

10 of Defense. 

Æ 


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