I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3233 
To support the implementation of the National Defense Strategy for the 
United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2019 
Mr. GALLAGHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To support the implementation of the National Defense 
Strategy for the United States, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Defense 
Strategy Implementation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the 2017 National Security 
Strategy (NSS), ‘‘China and Russia are developing 
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advanced weapons and capabilities that could threat-
en our critical infrastructure and our command and 
control architecture’’ and ‘‘China and Russia chal-
lenge American power, influence, and interests, at-
tempting to erode American security and pros-
perity’’. The NSS sets the country’s primary focus 
as sustaining favorable regional balances of power in 
the key regions of the world, and the use of our alli-
ance and partnership architecture as the mechanism 
for doing so. 
(2) The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) 
rightly stresses that long-term, strategic competition 
with China and Russia should be the top priority of 
the United States and the Department of Defense 
and require both increased and sustained invest-
ment, both because of the magnitude of the threats 
they pose to United States security and prosperity 
today and the potential for those threats to increase 
in the future. 
(3) To meet such challenges, the NDS states 
that the strategy of the United States will be to ex-
pand the competitive space while pursuing three dis-
tinct lines of effort, including rebuilding military 
readiness to build a more lethal Joint Force, 
strengthening alliances and attracting new partners, 
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and reforming the Department’s business practices 
for greater performance and affordability. 
(4) In the January 2019 Worldwide Threat As-
sessment, the United States Intelligence Community 
stated that ‘‘Russia and China seek to shape the 
international system and regional security dynamics 
and exert influence over the politics and economics 
of states in all regions of the world and especially in 
their backyards’’. 
(5) ‘‘China and Russia will present a wide vari-
ety of economic, political, counterintelligence, mili-
tary, and diplomatic challenges to the United States 
and its allies. We anticipate that they will collabo-
rate to counter U.S. objectives, taking advantage of 
rising doubts in some places about the liberal demo-
cratic model.’’. 
(6) The December 2018 U.S. Government Ac-
countability Office (GAO) report to congressional 
committees on Long-Range Emerging Threats Fac-
ing the United States as Identified by Federal Agen-
cies stated that, ‘‘China is marshalling its diplo-
matic, economic, and military resources to facilitate 
its rise as a regional and global power. This may 
challenge U.S. access to air, space, cyberspace, and 
maritime domains. China’s use of cyberspace and 
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electronic warfare could impact various U.S. systems 
and operations. Russia is increasing its capability to 
challenge the United States across multiple warfare 
domains, including attempting to launch computer- 
based directed energy attacks against U.S. military 
assets. Russia is also increasing its military and po-
litical presence in key locations across the world.’’. 
(7) According to the 2018 Assessment and Rec-
ommendations by the National Defense Strategy 
Commission (NDSC), ‘‘the U.S. military could suf-
fer unacceptably high casualties and loss of major 
capital assets in its next conflict. It might struggle 
to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Rus-
sia. The United States is particularly at risk of 
being overwhelmed should its military be forced to 
fight on two or more fronts simultaneously. Addi-
tionally, it would be unwise for and irresponsible not 
to expect adversaries to attempt debilitating kinetic, 
cyber, or other types of attacks against Americans 
at home while they seek to defeat our military 
abroad. U.S. military superiority is no longer as-
sured and the implications for American interests 
and American security are severe.’’. 
(8) As such, the NDSC states that ‘‘DOD and 
the Congressional committees that oversee national 
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security must focus current and future investments 
on operational challenges such as protecting critical 
bases of operations; rapidly reinforcing and sus-
taining forces engaged forward; assuring information 
systems and conducting effective information oper-
ations; defeating anti-access/area-denial threats; de-
terring, and if necessary defeating, the use of nu-
clear or other strategic weapons in ways that fall 
short of justifying a large-scale nuclear response; en-
hancing the capabilities and survivability of space 
systems and supporting infrastructure; and devel-
oping an interoperable joint command, control, com-
munications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, 
and reconnaissance (C4ISR) architecture that sup-
ports the warfare of the future.’’. 
(9) Additionally, the NDSC states that ‘‘Mak-
ing informed decisions about strategic, operational, 
and force development issues requires a foundation 
of state-of-the-art analytic capabilities. . . . Specifi-
cally, the Department needs a rigorous force devel-
opment plan that connects its investment strategy 
with its key priorities of winning in conflict and 
competing effectively with China and Russia.’’. 
(10) The March 2019 GAO report on Defense 
Strategy: Revised Analytic Approach Needed to Sup-
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port Force Structure Decision-Making, found that 
‘‘The Department of Defense’s (DOD) analytic ap-
proach has not provided senior leaders with the sup-
port they need to evaluate and determine the force 
structure necessary to implement the National De-
fense Strategy.’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress as follows: 
(1) The United States must be prepared to 
meet the challenges of competitive nations that are 
seeking to diminish the United States military ad-
vantage and threaten vital United States interests, 
and China is the most significant such challenge. 
(2) The National Defense Strategy provides the 
correct framework to prepare for major-power com-
petition and conflict, but adequate resources are re-
quired and implementation across the entire Depart-
ment of Defense enterprise in line with the focus of 
that strategy on readying the Joint Force for com-
petition and conflict against China and Russia. 
(3) The United States is committed to uphold-
ing a free and open international order that pro-
motes republican government and governance in con-
cert with collective security, international laws, and 
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human dignity while respecting the sovereignty of 
other countries. 
(4) The Department of Defense should urgently 
and at scale adapt the Joint Force’s shape, posture, 
development vectors, and employment models to 
maintain military advantage alongside our allies and 
partners against China and Russia. To do this, the 
Department of Defense should develop adapted, new 
warfighting concepts at the operational level of war 
that allow the United States to achieve its political 
objectives in politically tenable ways. In concert, the 
Joint Force should become more lethal, resilient, 
agile, and ready to deal with Chinese and Russian 
strategies and theories of victory. 
(5) Investments should be focused on expanding 
United States operational options while constraining 
those to strategic competitors, such as China and 
Russia. 
SEC. 4. REPORT ON OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS AND PLANS 
TO DEFEAT CHINA AND RUSSIA. 
Not later than February 1, 2020, and then biannually 
thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
congressional defense committees a report on the Depart-
ment of Defense’s operational concepts and plans to defeat 
China and Russia in competition and war, including on 
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key strategically significant scenarios identified in the Na-
tional Defense Strategy that also addresses each of the 
following: 
(1) Ways of employing the force in peace time 
to effectively compete and deter China and Russia 
below the threshold of war while ensuring readiness 
for war. 
(2) Ways of adapting innovative, operational 
concepts needed for strategically significant and 
plausible scenarios related to China and Russia. 
(3) Ways of addressing operational challenges 
related to achieving the strategic advantage against 
China and Russia related to nuclear, space, cyber, 
conventional, 
and 
unconventional 
means 
in 
warfighting doctrine. 
(4) The technologies, force developments, pos-
ture and capabilities, readiness, infrastructure, orga-
nization, personnel, and other elements of the de-
fense program necessary to enable these operational 
concepts and its implementation listed in paragraphs 
(1) through (3). 
(5) The ability of the National Security Innova-
tion Base to support the operational concepts listed 
in paragraphs (1) through (3). 
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(6) The resources and defense investments nec-
essary to support the operational concepts and its 
implementation, including budget recommendations. 
(7) The risks associated with the operational 
concepts, including the relationship and tradeoffs be-
tween missions, risks, and resources. 
(8) The likely needed boundaries of conflict 
needed to achieve these operational concepts. 
(9) Measures and metrics to track the effective-
ness of the operational concepts and plans. 
SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO INCREASE ANALYTIC SUPPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall di-
rect the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Direc-
tor of the Joint Staff, and the Director of Cost Assess-
ment and Program Evaluation, in consultation with the 
head of each military service, to jointly develop and imple-
ment a plan to strengthen the analytic capabilities, exper-
tise, and processes necessary to meet the National Defense 
Strategy. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The plan under subsection (a) shall 
include— 
(1) an assessment of the decision support capa-
bility of the Department of Defense, specifically the 
analytic expertise the Department is using to link 
National Defense Strategy objectives to innovative 
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approaches for meeting future challenges, including 
winning in conflict and competing effectively against 
China and Russia; 
(2) an approach for comparing competing anal-
yses and conducting joint analyses for force struc-
ture to support senior leaders in implementing the 
National Defense Strategy; 
(3) a determination of the analytic products 
and support required to implement the National De-
fense Strategy, including the ability to update these 
products to reflect current strategy, intelligence as-
sessments, and future threats; and 
(4) such other matters as the Secretary of De-
fense determines to be appropriate. 
(c) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than March 1, 
2020, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the con-
gressional defense committees a briefing on the plan under 
subsection (a). 
SEC. 6. EXTENSION AND ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE COM-
MISSION ON THE NATIONAL DEFENSE STRAT-
EGY FOR THE UNITED STATES. 
Section 942 of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 
2367) is amended— 
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(1) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(f) ANNUAL UPDATE
ON NATIONAL DEFENSE 
STRATEGY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis during 
the covered period, the chair and vice chair of the 
Commission, or their designees, shall jointly submit 
to the congressional defense committees a report 
that assesses whether, and to what extent, the De-
partment of Defense executed the National Defense 
Strategy in the preceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under 
paragraph (1) shall assess the performance of the 
Department of Defense with respect to each of the 
elements described in sections 4 and 5(b) of the Na-
tional Defense Strategy Implementation Act. 
‘‘(3) COVERED PERIOD DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘covered period’ means a period 
that— 
‘‘(A) begins not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(B) ends on the date on which the first 
National Defense Strategy is submitted to Con-
gress after such date of enactment.’’. 
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