S.Amdt. 6535

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Lee, aims to replace section 1019 of bill S. 4784. Its purpose is to create rules for the construction of specific vessels in foreign shipyards.

The amendment would allow the Secretary of Defense to build up to two vessels for each class of covered vessels in a foreign shipyard if certain conditions are met:

• The construction must be in the national security interest of the United States, specifically for forward logistics support, accelerating fleet capacity requirements, or interoperability with partners and allies.
• The foreign country must be a treaty ally of the United States and have the necessary supply chain, physical shipyard constraints, and workforce capacity to build the vessel.
• The construction must ensure direct capital investments in the United States maritime industrial base to onshore the supplier base and construction by the fourth vessel of the class.

The amendment adds several requirements for this process:

• The Secretary of Defense must submit a report and certification to congressional defense committees 30 days before spending funds. This report must identify the vessels, the specific foreign shipyard and country, protections for classified or controlled unclassified information, and a plan to onshore the supply chain and construction for the third and following vessels.
• The Secretary of Defense cannot delegate the responsibility of submitting this certification.
• Critical mission systems, secure communications systems, and command and control equipment must be installed in a secure allied facility or in the United States.
• The Secretary must ensure that software and hardware for safety systems, power and electrical systems, cargo and ballast control systems, and machinery control systems are secure.
• Construction in a foreign shipyard must provide a material benefit to force posture or readiness, or be projected to deliver the vessels faster than construction in a United States shipyard.
• An approved life cycle sustainment plan, including class-standard repair parts, is required.

The amendment defines "class of covered vessels" as strategic sealift vessels in a roll-on/roll-off configuration and bulk fuel vessels intended for liquid fuels, provided they do not have combatant classifications.