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