108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4323

AN ACT

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide

Defense to respond to combat emergencies.rapid acquisition authority to the Secretary of

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4323

AN ACT

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide rapid

acquisition authority to the Secretary of Defense to respond to combat emergencies.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. RAPID ACQUISITION AUTHORITY TO RESPOND

2 TO COMBAT EMERGENCIES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 141 of title 10, United

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new section:

6 ‘‘§ 2410p. Rapid acquisition authority to respond to

7 combat emergencies

8 ‘‘(a) RAPID ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—The Sec9 retary of Defense may rapidly acquire, in accordance with

10 this section, equipment needed by a combatant com11 mander to eliminate a combat capability deficiency that

12 has resulted in combat fatalities.

13 ‘‘(b) PROCESS FOR RAPID ACQUISITION.—Not later

14 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this sec15 tion, the Secretary of Defense shall develop a process for

16 the rapid acquisition authority provided by subsection (a)

17 and submit to Congress a detailed explanation of the proc18 ess, including procedures to be followed in carrying out

19 the process. The process shall provide for the following:

20 ‘‘(1) A requirement that the process may be

21 used only to acquire the minimum amount of equip22 ment needed until the needs of the combatant com23 mander can be fulfilled under existing acquisition

24 statutes, policies, directives, and regulations.
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1 ‘‘(2) A goal of awarding a contract for the

2 equipment within 15 days after receipt of a request

3 from a commander.

4 ‘‘(3) In a case in which the equipment cannot

5 be acquired without an extensive delay, a require6 ment for an interim solution to minimize the combat

7 capability deficiency and combat fatalities until the

8 equipment can be acquired.

9 ‘‘(4) Waiver of the applicability of all policies,

10 directives, and regulations related to—

11 ‘‘(A) the establishment of the requirement

12 for the equipment;

13 ‘‘(B) the research, development, test, and

14 evaluation of the equipment; and

15 ‘‘(C) the solicitation and selection of

16 sources, and the award of the contract, for pro17 curement of the equipment.

18 ‘‘(5) Such other procedures or requirements as

19 the Secretary considers appropriate.

20 ‘‘(c) WAIVER OF CERTAIN STATUTES.—For purposes

21 of exercising the authority provided by subsection (a) with

22 respect to equipment, laws relating to the following shall

23 not apply:

24 ‘‘(A) The establishment of the requirement for

25 the equipment.
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1 ‘‘(B) The research, development, test, and eval2 uation of the equipment.

3 ‘‘(C) The solicitation and selection of sources,

4 and the award of the contract, for procurement of

5 the equipment.

6 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS.—The rapid acquisition authority

7 provided by subsection (a) may be used only—

8 ‘‘(1) after the Secretary of Defense, without

9 delegation, determines in writing that there exists a

10 combat capability deficiency that has resulted in

11 combat fatalities; and

12 ‘‘(2) to acquire equipment in an amount aggre13 gating not more than $100,000,000 during a fiscal

14 year.

15 ‘‘(e) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—For acquisitions under

16 this section to be made during any fiscal year, the Sec17 retary may use any funds made available to the Depart18 ment of Defense for that fiscal year.

19 ‘‘(f) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS AFTER EACH USE

20 OF AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Defense shall notify

21 the congressional defense committees within 15 days after

22 each use of the authority provided by subsection (a). Each

23 such notice shall identify the equipment to be acquired,

24 the amount to be expended for such acquisition, and the

25 source of funds for such acquisition.
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1 ‘‘(g) COMBATANT COMMANDER.—In this section, the

2 term ‘combatant commander’ means the commander of a

3 unified combatant command with authority for the con4 duct of operations in a specific area of responsibility or

5 who otherwise has authority to conduct operations at the

6 direction of the President or Secretary of Defense.’’.

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

8 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding

9 at the end the following new item:

‘‘2410p. Rapid acquisition authority to respond to combat emergencies.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 14, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.