II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1334 

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop, in cooperation with allies 

and partners in the Middle East, an integrated maritime domain awareness and interdiction capability, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Ms. ERNST, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop, in cooperation with allies and partners in the Middle East, an 

integrated maritime domain awareness and interdiction 

capability, 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 ‘‘Maritime Architecture 

5 and Response to International Terrorism In the Middle 

6 East Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘MARITIME Act of 2023’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 1334 IS

1 SEC. 2. MIDDLE EAST INTEGRATED MARITIME DOMAIN 

2 AWARENESS AND INTERDICTION CAPA3 BILITY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con5 sultation with the Secretary of State, shall seek to build 

6 upon the historic opportunities created by the Abraham 

7 Accords and the incorporation of Israel into the area of 

8 responsibility of the United States Central Command to 

9 develop a Middle East integrated maritime domain aware10 ness and interdiction capability for the purpose of pro11 tecting the people, infrastructure, and territory of such 

12 countries from— 

13 (1) manned and unmanned naval systems, un14 dersea warfare capabilities, and anti-ship missiles of 

15 Iran and groups affiliated with Iran; and 

16 (2) violent extremist organizations, criminal 

17 networks, and piracy activities that threaten lawful 

18 commerce in the waterways within the area of re19 sponsibility of the United States Naval Forces Cen20 tral Command. 

21 (b) STRATEGY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

24 of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of 

25 State, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 1334 IS

1 Congress a strategy for the cooperation described in 

2 subsection (a). 

3 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy 

4 required by paragraph (1) shall include the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) An assessment of the threats posed to 

7 ally or partner countries in the Middle East 

8 by— 

9 (i) manned and unmanned naval sys10 tems, undersea warfare capabilities, and 

11 anti-ship missiles of Iran and groups affili12 ated with Iran; and 

13 (ii) violent extremist organizations, 

14 criminal networks, and piracy activities 

15 that threaten lawful commerce in the wa16 terways within the area of responsibility of 

17 the United States Naval Forces Central 

18 Command. 

19 (B) A description of existing multilateral 

20 maritime partnerships currently led by the 

21 United States Naval Forces Central Command, 

22 including the Combined Maritime Forces (in23 cluding its associated Task Forces 150, 151, 

24 152, and 153), the International Maritime Se25 curity Construct (including its Coalition Task 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 1334 IS

1 Force SENTINEL), and the Navy’s Task 

2 Force 59, and a discussion of the role of such 

3 partnerships in building an integrated maritime 

4 security capability. 

5 (C) A description of efforts made and les6 sons learned in advancing the integration of 

7 Israel into the existing multilateral maritime 

8 partnerships described in subparagraph (B). 

9 (D) A description of efforts among coun10 tries in the Middle East to coordinate intel11 ligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance capa12 bilities and indicators and warnings with re13 spect to the threats described in subparagraph 

14 (A), and a description of any impediment to op15 timizing such efforts. 

16 (E) A description of the current Depart17 ment of Defense systems that, in coordination 

18 with ally and partner countries in the Middle 

19 East— 

20 (i) provide awareness of and defend 

21 against such threats; and 

22 (ii) address current capability gaps. 

23 (F) An explanation of the manner in which 

24 an integrated maritime domain awareness and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 1334 IS

1 interdiction architecture would improve collec2 tive security in the Middle East. 

3 (G) A description of existing and planned 

4 efforts to engage ally and partner countries in 

5 the Middle East in establishing such an archi6 tecture. 

7 (H) An identification of the elements of 

8 such an architecture that may be acquired and 

9 operated by ally and partner countries in the 

10 Middle East, and a list of such elements for 

11 each such ally and partner. 

12 (I) An identification of the elements of 

13 such an architecture that may only be provided 

14 and operated by members of the United States 

15 Armed Forces. 

16 (J) An identification of any challenge to 

17 optimizing such an architecture in the Middle 

18 East. 

19 (K) An assessment of progress and key 

20 challenges in the implementation of the strategy 

21 required by paragraph (1) using the metrics 

22 identified in accordance with paragraph (3). 

23 (L) Recommendations for improvements in 

24 the implementation of such strategy based on 

25 such metrics. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 1334 IS

1 (M) An assessment of any capabilities or 

2 lessons from the Navy’s Task Force 59 that 

3 may be leveraged to support an integrated mar4 itime domain awareness and interdiction capa5 bility in the Middle East. 

6 (N) A description and assessment of the 

7 joint bilateral and multinational maritime exer8 cises conducted in the Middle East since the es9 tablishment of the Navy’s Task Force 59, in10 cluding a discussion of the manner in which 

11 such exercises have impacted the efforts and 

12 lessons detailed under subparagraphs (C), (D), 

13 and (M). 

14 (O) A description of collaboration opportu15 nities between the intelligence, reconnaissance, 

16 and surveillance capabilities of the Navy’s Task 

17 Force 59 and the Air Force’s Task Force 99 to 

18 support a joint-service approach to maritime 

19 domain awareness with sea-based and air-based 

20 unmanned assets. 

21 (P) Any other matter the Secretary of De22 fense considers relevant. 

23 (3) METRICS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

24 identify metrics to assess progress in the implemen25 tation of the strategy required by paragraph (1). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 1334 IS

1 (4) FORMAT.—The strategy required by para2 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 

3 may include a classified annex. 

4 (c) FEASIBILITY STUDY.— 

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

6 shall conduct a study on the feasibility and advis7 ability of establishing a fund for an integrated mari8 time domain awareness and interdiction capability to 

9 protect the people, infrastructure, and territory of 

10 ally and partner countries in the Middle East 

11 from— 

12 (A) manned and unmanned naval systems, 

13 undersea warfare capabilities, and anti-ship 

14 missiles of Iran and groups affiliated with Iran; 

15 and 

16 (B) violent extremist organizations, crimi17 nal networks, and piracy activities that threaten 

18 lawful commerce in the waterways of the Middle 

19 East. 

20 (2) ELEMENT.—The study required by para21 graph (1) shall include an assessment of funds that 

22 could be contributed by ally and partner countries of 

23 the United States. 

24 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•S 1334 IS

1 Defense shall submit to the appropriate committees 

2 of Congress a report on the results of the study con3 ducted under paragraph (1). 

4 (d) PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—Any 

5 activity carried out under this section shall be conducted 

6 in a manner that appropriately protects sensitive informa7 tion and the national security interests of the United 

8 States. 

9 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE10 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit11 tees of Congress’’ means— 

12 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

13 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 

14 Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on In15 telligence of the Senate; and 

16 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

17 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 

18 Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Com19 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representa20 tives. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB