119-hr1955

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1955 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1955

 To require the establishment within the Department of Defense of a 
 pilot program on arsenal workload sustainment, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 6, 2025

 Mr. Sorensen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require the establishment within the Department of Defense of a 
 pilot program on arsenal workload sustainment, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Arsenal Workload Sustainment Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ARSENAL WORKLOAD SUSTAINMENT.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) The United States has a long and proud history of 
 manufacturing defense products.

    (2) Factories and arsenals of the Department of the Army 
 that are owned and operated by the United States Government are 
 a critical component of the organic industrial base.

    (3) The first ever National Defense Industrial Strategy 
 released in 2024 recognized the need of the Department of 
 Defense to more strategically utilize the organic industrial 
 base in order to maintain a competitive military advantage.

    (4) Sufficient workload at arsenals of the Department of 
 the Army that are owned and operated by the United States 
 Government ensure cost efficiency and technical competence in 
 peacetime, while preserving the ability to provide an effective 
 and timely response to mobilizations, national defense 
 contingency situations, and other emergency requirements.

    (b) Establishment of Pilot Program.--Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
establish a pilot program to be known as the ``Arsenal Workload 
Sustainment Pilot Program'' (in this section referred to as the ``pilot 
program'').
            (c) Duration.--The pilot program shall be conducted for a period of 
five years.
            (d) Preferences for Procurement Actions or Solicitations.--

    (1) In general.--In carrying out the pilot program, the 
 Secretary of Defense shall give a preference described in 
 paragraph

    (2) for any procurement action or solicitation by a 
 non-public partner who has entered into a public-private 
 partnership with the Secretary in the source selection process 
 if such non-public partner uses an arsenal of the Department of 
 the Army that is owned and operated by the United States 
 Government as a partner in any type of contractual agreement 
 with the United States Government.

    (2) Preference described.--A preference described in this 
 paragraph is the addition of 20 percent to the price of any 
 offer by a non-public partner that does not use an arsenal of 
 the Department of the Army that is owned and operated by the 
 United States Government as a partner in its bid for the same 
 procurement action or solicitation described in paragraph

    (1) .

    (3) Further preference.--In selecting non-public partners 
 under paragraph

    (1) , the Secretary of Defense shall give 
 preference to non-public partners that--
        (A) utilize the Advanced Manufacturing Center of 
 Excellence of the Army; and
        (B) ensure not less than 25 percent of the 
 activities under the partnership are performed by 
 employees of the Department of Defense.

    (e) Report Required.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on 
 the activities carried out under the pilot program, including a 
 description of any operational challenges identified.

    (2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph

    (1) shall include the following:
        (A) A breakout, by relevant budget accounts, of 
 workload at an arsenal of the Department of the Army 
 that is owned and operated by the United States 
 Government that was achieved in the prior fiscal year, 
 whether directly or through public-private partnerships 
 under the pilot program.
        (B) An assessment of relevant budget accounts where 
 such an arsenal can be utilized to meet future 
 procurement needs of the Department of Defense, 
 irrespective of cost.
            (C) An outlook of expected workload at each such 
 arsenal during the period covered by the future-years 
 defense program submitted to Congress under 

section 221 
 of title 10, United States Code.
            (D) The capital investments required to be made at 
 each such arsenal to ensure compliance and operational 
 capacity.

    (f) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
        (A) the Committee on Armed Services and the 
 Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on 
 Appropriations of the Senate; and
        (B) the Committee on Armed Services and the 
 Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on 
 Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

    (2) Non-public partner.--The term ``non-public partner'' 
 means a corporation, individual, university, or nonprofit 
 organization that is not part of the United States Government.
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