I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4985 
To implement certain recommendations of the National Security Commission 
on Artificial Intelligence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 6, 2021 
Mr. VELA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Intelligence 
(Permanent Select), Foreign Affairs, Transportation and Infrastructure, 
and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To implement certain recommendations of the National 
Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Digital Defense Leadership Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. National strategy relating to the global information domain. 
Sec. 3. Artificial intelligence readiness goals. 
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Sec. 4. Role of intelligence community in steering committee on emerging tech-
nology. 
Sec. 5. Resourcing plan for digital ecosystem. 
Sec. 6. Integrating digital skill sets and computational thinking into military 
junior leader education. 
Sec. 7. Integration of material on emerging technologies into professional mili-
tary education. 
Sec. 8. Short course on emerging technologies for senior personnel of the De-
partment of Defense. 
Sec. 9. Emerging technology-coded billets within the Department of Defense. 
Sec. 10. Agile contracting mechanism for software acquisition. 
Sec. 11. Enhanced role of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engi-
neering on the Joint Requirements Oversight Council. 
Sec. 12. Artificial Intelligence Development and Prototyping Fund. 
Sec. 13. Enhanced authority to enter into cooperative research and development 
agreements with international partners. 
Sec. 14. Role of Director of Science and Technology as Chief Technology Offi-
cer for the intelligence community. 
Sec. 15. Establishment of Artificial Intelligence Critical Applications Fund. 
Sec. 16. Artificial intelligence technology roadmap and funding plan for the in-
telligence community. 
Sec. 17. Digital expertise recruiting offices. 
Sec. 18. Occupational series relating to artificial intelligence and digital career 
fields. 
Sec. 19. Military career fields for software development, data science, and arti-
ficial intelligence. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL STRATEGY RELATING TO THE GLOBAL 
INFORMATION DOMAIN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the President shall 
transmit to Congress a national strategy relating to the 
global information domain to— 
(1) address such domain as a component of the 
national security of the United States; and 
(2) ensure the United States leads in the devel-
opment of technologies and tactics applicable to such 
domain. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-
section (a) shall, at a minimum— 
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(1) prioritize the global information domain as 
an area for international competition with respect to 
foreign adversaries; 
(2) detail how such adversaries, as well as 
nonstate actors, are attempting to influence and con-
trol such domain to shape global opinion and achieve 
strategic advantage; 
(3) account for the critical role of artificial in-
telligence-enabled malign information in the activi-
ties of such adversaries and nonstate actors referred 
to in paragraph (2); 
(4) identify and prioritize actions to defend, 
counter, and compete in such domain, including rec-
ommendations with respect to— 
(A) changing the priorities of the national 
security agencies of the United States; and 
(B) establishing new national security 
agencies to prioritize such actions; and 
(5) provide recommendations, including any 
suggestions for legislation, with respect to updat-
ing— 
(A) critical infrastructure designations; 
and 
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(B) sector-specific plans to account for 
emerging technologies, including artificial intel-
ligence. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar-
tificial intelligence’’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain Na-
tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2019 (Public Law 115–232; 10 U.S.C. 2358 note). 
(2) ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE-ENABLED
MA-
LIGN
INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘artificial intel-
ligence-enabled malign information’’ refers to a 
broad range of applications in which artificial intel-
ligence is used to generate, spread, or target 
disinformation, or otherwise control or manipulate 
the flow and substance of information in the global 
information domain. 
(3) CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 
‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 1016(e) of Public Law 107–56 (42 
U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 
(4) FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term ‘‘foreign 
adversary’’ means a foreign government engaged in 
a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct 
significantly adverse to the national security of the 
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United States or security and safety of United 
States persons. 
(5) GLOBAL INFORMATION DOMAIN.—The term 
‘‘global information domain’’ means a sphere of stra-
tegic competition in which foreign adversaries and 
nonstate actors create, obtain, fuse, analyze, distort, 
transfer, exchange, or disseminate information, 
overtly or covertly, to influence public opinion for 
national security, geopolitical, or economic purposes. 
SEC. 3. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE READINESS GOALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall— 
(1) review the potential applications of artificial 
intelligence and digital technology to the platforms, 
processes, and operations of the Department of De-
fense; and 
(2) establish performance objectives and accom-
panying metrics for the incorporation of artificial in-
telligence and digital readiness into such platforms, 
processes, and operations. 
(b) SKILLS GAPS.—As a part of the review required 
by subsection (a), the Secretary shall direct the military 
departments and other relevant organizations and ele-
ments of the Department of Defense to— 
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(1) conduct a comprehensive review of skill 
gaps in the fields of software development, software 
engineering, knowledge management, data science, 
and artificial intelligence; 
(2) assess the number and qualifications of ci-
vilian personnel needed for both management and 
specialist tracks in such fields; 
(3) assess the number of military personnel (in-
cluding officers and enlisted members of the Armed 
Forces) needed for both management and specialist 
tracks in such fields; and 
(4) establish recruiting, training, and talent 
management goals to achieve and maintain the staff-
ing levels needed to fill identified gaps and meet the 
Department’s needs for skilled personnel. 
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 120 days 
after the completion of the review required by subsection 
(a), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a 
report on the findings of the review and any actions taken 
or proposed to be taken by the Secretary to address such 
findings. 
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SEC. 4. ROLE OF INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY IN STEERING 
COMMITTEE ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGY. 
Section 236 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry Na-
tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 
(Public Law 116–283), is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 
paragraph (9); and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) One or more representatives of the intel-
ligence community (as defined in section 3 of the 
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)), 
which shall include, at a minimum, the Principal 
Deputy Director of National Intelligence.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(c) CHAIRPERSONS.—The Deputy Secretary of De-
fense, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and 
the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence 
shall serve as Co-Chairpersons of the Steering Com-
mittee.’’. 
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SEC. 5. RESOURCING PLAN FOR DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall develop a plan for the development of a modern dig-
ital ecosystem that uses state-of-the-art tools and modern 
processes to enable the development, testing, fielding, and 
continuous updating of artificial intelligence-powered ap-
plications at speed and scale from headquarters to the tac-
tical edge. 
(b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—At a minimum, the plan 
required by subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) an open architecture and an evolving ref-
erence design and guidance for needed technical in-
vestments in the proposed ecosystem that address 
issues including common interfaces, authentication, 
applications, platforms, software, hardware, and 
data infrastructure; and 
(2) a governance structure, together with asso-
ciated policies and guidance, to drive the implemen-
tation of the reference throughout the Department 
on a federated basis. 
SEC. 6. INTEGRATING DIGITAL SKILL SETS AND COMPUTA-
TIONAL THINKING INTO MILITARY JUNIOR 
LEADER EDUCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Chiefs of the Armed 
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Forces shall expand the curriculum for military junior 
leader education to include the following: 
(1) Problem definition and curation. 
(2) A conceptual understanding of the artificial 
intelligence lifecycle. 
(3) Data collection and management. 
(4) Probabilistic reasoning and data visualiza-
tion. 
(5) Data-informed decision making. 
(b) RESOURCES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Chiefs shall use existing artificial intelligence-enabled sys-
tems and tools to the extent possible. 
SEC. 7. INTEGRATION OF MATERIAL ON EMERGING TECH-
NOLOGIES INTO PROFESSIONAL MILITARY 
EDUCATION. 
Not later than one year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall ensure that the cur-
riculum for professional military education for each Armed 
Force under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of a military 
department includes periodic courses on militarily signifi-
cant emerging technologies that expand the knowledge 
base, vocabulary, and skills necessary to intelligently ana-
lyze and use emerging technologies in the tactical, oper-
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