I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4720 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the Assistant Secretary 
of Defense for Space, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 17, 2019 
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space, 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. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR 
SPACE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF POSITION.—Section 138(b) 
of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) One of the Assistant Secretaries is the Assistant 
Secretary of Defense for Space. The Assistant Secretary 
shall have as the Assistant Secretary’s principal duty the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:41 Oct 23, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4720.IH
H4720
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
overall supervision (including oversight of policy and re-
sources) of space activities of the Department of Defense. 
The Assistant Secretary is the principal civilian adviser 
to the Secretary of Defense on space operations and space 
conflict matters and (after the Secretary and the Deputy 
Secretary of Defense) is the principal space official within 
the senior management of the Department of Defense. 
Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Sec-
retary, the Assistant Secretary shall do the following: 
‘‘(A) Exercise authority, direction, and control 
of all space administrative matters relating to the 
organization, training, and equipping of space 
forces. 
‘‘(B) Assist the Secretary in the development 
and supervision of policy, program planning and exe-
cution, and allocation and use of resources for the 
activities of the Department of Defense for the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) Space operations, defending national 
security assets in space, and the other space ac-
tivities of the Department. 
‘‘(ii) Integration of the activities of the De-
partment to most efficiently and effectively pro-
vide for space-related activities. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:41 Oct 23, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4720.IH
H4720
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(C) Perform such additional duties as the Sec-
retary may prescribe.’’. 
(b) PLAN ON ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR DEFENSE 
SPACE RESOURCES.— 
(1) PLAN REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the appointment, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, of the first Assist-
ant Secretary of Defense for Space appointed after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant 
Secretary of Defense for Space shall submit to the 
congressional defense committees a plan to establish 
a separate, alternative acquisition system for defense 
space resources, including for acquisitions with re-
spect to space vehicles, ground segments relating to 
such vehicles, and satellite terminals. 
(2) SCOPE.—The plan required by paragraph 
(1) shall cover acquisitions of defense space re-
sources for the Department of Defense, other than 
resources for the National Reconnaissance Office 
and other elements of the Department that are ele-
ments of the intelligence community (as defined in 
section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 
U.S.C. 3003)). 
(3) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para-
graph (1) shall include recommendations on whether 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:41 Oct 23, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4720.IH
H4720
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
the alternative acquisition system covered by the 
plan should use the Joint Capabilities Integration 
and Development System process or another require-
ments process that is developed by the Assistant 
Secretary for purposes of the plan. 
(4) CONGRESSIONAL
DEFENSE
COMMITTEES 
DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘congres-
sional defense committees’’ has the meaning given 
that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United 
States Code. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:41 Oct 23, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H4720.IH
H4720
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS