Defense Production Act Reauthorization of 2003

by the 108th Congress of the United States

108^TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS
1^ST SESSION

An Act
To reauthorize the Defense Production Act of 1950, 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 ``Defense Production Act Reauthorization of 2003´´.

Sec. 2. Reauthorization of Defense Production Act of 1950.

(a) IN GENERAL.—

The first sentence of section 717(a) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2166(a)) is amended—

(1) by striking ``sections 708´´ and inserting ``sections 707, 708,´´; and

(2) by striking ``September 30, 2003´´ and inserting ``September 30, 2008´´.

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

Section 711(b) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2161(b)) is amended by striking ``through 2003´´ and inserting ``through 2008´´.

Sec. 3. Resource Shortfall for Radiation-Hardened Electronics.

(a) IN GENERAL.—

Notwithstanding the limitation contained in section 303(a)(6)(C) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2093(a)(6)(C)), the President may take actions under section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to correct the industrial resource shortfall for radiation-hardened electronics, to the extent that such Presidential actions do not cause the aggregate outstanding amount of all such actions to exceed $200,000,000.

(b) REPORT BY THE SECRETARY.—

Before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives describing—

(1) the current state of the domestic industrial base for radiation-hardened electronics;

(2) the projected requirements of the Department of Defense for radiation-hardened electronics;

(3) the intentions of the Department of Defense for the industrial base for radiation-hardened electronics; and

(4) the plans of the Department of Defense for use of providers of radiation-hardened electronics beyond the providers with which the Department had entered into contractual arrangements under the authority of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as of the date of the enactment of this Act.

Sec. 4. Clarification of Presidential Authority.

Subsection (a) of section 705 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2155(a)) is amended by inserting after the end of the first sentence the following new sentence: ``The authority of the President under this section includes the authority to obtain information in order to perform industry studies assessing the capabilities of the United States industrial base to support the national defense.´´.

Sec. 5. Critical Infrastructure Protection and Restoration.

Section 702 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2152) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (17) as paragraphs (4) through (18), respectively;

(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph:

``(3) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.— The term ``critical infrastructure´´ means any systems and assets, whether physical or cyber-based, so vital to the United States that the degradation or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on national security, including, but not limited to, national economic security and national public health or safety.´´; and

(3) in paragraph (14) (as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this section), by inserting ``and critical infrastructure protection and restoration´´ before the period at the end of the last sentence.

Sec. 6. Report on Contracting with Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses.

(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—

Before the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives on the extent to which contracts entered into during the fiscal year ending before the end of such 1-year period under the Defense Production Act of 1950 have been contracts with minority- and women-owned businesses.

(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—

The report submitted under subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) The types of goods and services obtained under contracts with minority- and women-owned businesses under the Defense Production Act of 1950 in the fiscal year covered in the report.

(2) The dollar amounts of such contracts.

(3) The ethnicity of the majority owners of such minority- and women-owned businesses.

(4) A description of the types of barriers in the contracting process, such as requirements for security clearances, that limit contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses, together with such recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the Secretary of Defense may determine to be appropriate for increasing opportunities for contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses and removing barriers to such increased participation.

(c) DEFINITIONS.—

For purposes of this section, the terms ``women-owned business´´ and ``minority-owned business´´ have the meanings given such terms in section 21A(r) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, and the term ``minority´´ has the meaning given such term in section 1204(c)(3) of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989.

Sec. 7. Report on Offsets on Domestic Contractors and Lower Tier Subcontractors.

(a) EXAMINATION OF IMPACT REQUIRED.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—

As part of the annual report required under section 309(a) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2099(a)), the Secretary of Commerce (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary´´) shall—

(A) detail the number of foreign contracts involving domestic contractors that use offsets, industrial participation agreements, or similar arrangements during the preceding 5-year period;

(B) calculate the aggregate, median, and mean values of the contracts and the offsets, industrial participation agreements, and similar arrangements during the preceding 5-year period; and

(C) describe the impact of international or foreign sales of United States defense products and related offsets, industrial participation agreements, and similar arrangements on domestic prime contractors and, to the extent practicable, the first 3 tiers of domestic contractors and subcontractors during the preceding 5-year period in terms of domestic employment, including any job losses, on an annual basis.

(2) USE OF INTERNAL DOCUMENTS.—

To the extent that the Department of Commerce is already in possession of relevant data, the Department shall use internal documents or existing departmental records to carry out paragraph (1).

(3) INFORMATION FROM NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.—

(A) EXISTING INFORMATION.—

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall only require a non-Federal entity to provide information that is available through the existing data collection and reporting systems of that non-Federal entity.

(B) FORMAT.—

The Secretary may require a non-Federal entity to provide information to the Secretary in the same form that is already provided to a foreign government in fulfilling an offset arrangement, industrial participation agreement, or similar arrangement.

(b) REPORT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—

Before the end of the 8-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing the findings and conclusions of the Secretary with regard to the examination made pursuant to subsection (a).

(2) COPIES OF REPORT.—

The Secretary shall also transmit copies of the report prepared under paragraph (1) to the United States Trade Representative and the interagency team established pursuant to section 123(c) of the Defense Production Act Amendments of 1992 (50 U.S.C. App. 2099 note).

(c) RESPONSIBILITIES REGARDING CONSULTATION WITH FOREIGN NATIONS.—

Section 123(c) of the Defense Production Act Amendments of 1992 (50 U.S.C. App. 2099 note) is amended to read as follows:

``(c) NEGOTIATIONS.—

``(1) INTERAGENCY TEAM.—

``(A) IN GENERAL.— It is the policy of Congress that the President shall designate a chairman of an interagency team comprised of the Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Defense, United States Trade Representative, Secretary of Labor, and Secretary of State to consult with foreign nations on limiting the adverse effects of offsets in defense procurement without damaging the economy or the defense industrial base of the United States or United States defense production or defense preparedness.

``(B) MEETINGS.— The President shall direct the interagency team to meet on a quarterly basis.

``(C) REPORTS.— The President shall direct the interagency team to submit to Congress an annual report, to be included as part of the report required under section 309(a) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2099(a)), that describes the results of the consultations of the interagency team under subparagraph (A) and the meetings of the interagency team under subparagraph (B).

``(2) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MODIFICATIONS.— The interagency team shall submit to the President any recommendations for modifications of any existing or proposed memorandum of understanding between officials acting on behalf of the United States and one or more foreign countries (or any instrumentality of a foreign country) relating to—

``(A) research, development, or production of defense equipment; or

``(B) the reciprocal procurement of defense items.´´.

Approved December 19, 2003.

Legislative History

• S. 1680) (H.R. 1280)

• HOUSE REPORTS:
  • No. 108-156 (Comm. on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs)
• CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):
  • Sept. 30, considered and passed Senate with an amendment.
  • Oct. 15, considered and passed House, amended.
  • Nov. 21, Senate concurred in House amendment with an amendment.
  • Dec. 8, House concurred in Senate amendment.
• WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 39 (2003):
  • Dec. 19, Presidential statement.