,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cahf  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #aj1 #bjai,ms4 
,sherrill 7for herself and ,mr4 ,wilson 
of ,south ,carolina7 introduced the     
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a  
,,bill  ,to authorize the ,secretary of 
the ,army to procure two ,iron ,dome    
short-range rocket defense system       
batteries1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title  ,this ,act may be cited as
 the ,u4,s4-,israel ,indirect ,fire     
,protection ,act of #bjai4  #b4         
,findings ,congress finds the following3
 7#a7 ,on ,july #bg1 #bjab1 the ,united 
,states-,israel ,enhanced ,security     
,cooperation ,act of #bjab 7,public ,law
 #aab-aej2 #bb ,u4,s4,c4 #hfja et seq47 
declared it to be the policy of the     
,united ,states to help the ,government 
of ,israel preserve its qualitative     
military edge amid rapid and uncertain  
regional political transformation and   
provide ,israel defense articles and    

services1 to include air refueling      
tankers1 missile defense capabilities1  
and specialized munitions4  7#b7 ,on    
,december #ai1 #bjad1 the ,president    
signed into law the ,united             
,states-,israel ,strategic ,partnership 
,act of #bjad 7,public ,law #aac-bif7   
which stated the sense of ,congress that
 ,israel is a major strategic partner of
 the ,united ,states and declared it to 
be the policy of the ,united ,states to 
continue to provide ,israel with robust 
security assistance1 including for the  
procurement of the ,iron ,dome ,missile 
,defense ,system4  7#c7 ,in #bjad1 both 
governments signed a co-production      
agreement to produce ,iron ,dome's      
components in the ,united ,states4  7#d7
 ,the ,united ,states has provided more 
than #a1djj1jjj1jjj to ,israel for ,iron
 ,dome batteries1 coproduction costs1   
and general maintenance4  7#e7 ,more    
than #gj percent of the ,iron ,dome     
interceptor is manufactured in the      
,united ,states4  7#f7 ,the ,iron ,dome 

system is now a fielded1 battle-tested  
capability in ,israel with more than    
#a1gjj confirmed air defense intercepts 
and provides a rapid approach to        
delivering air defense capabilities for 
the ,united ,states4  7#g7 ,as outlined 
in the ,national ,defense ,strategy1 the
 ,army has critical capability gaps for 
cruise missile defense1 as well as      
counter-unmanned aerial systems and     
counter-rocket1 artillery1 and mortars4 
7#h7 ,in ,october #bjah1 the ,army      
reported to ,congress that1 ,the ,iron  
,dome ,system has capability against    
cruise missiles1 unmanned aircraft      
systems1 and rocket1 artillery1 and     
mortar fire1 and provides the best value
 to the ,army as an interim capability44
  7#i7 ,in ,february #bjai1 the ,army   
,futures ,command issued a statement    
noting an intent to procure a limited   
number of ,iron ,dome weapon systems to 
fill its short-term need for an interim 
,indirect ,fire ,protection             
,capability44  7#aj7 ,the ,army reported

 to ,congress that ,iron ,dome meets the
 ,army's modernization vision of rapid  
deployment of a mature and affordable   
weapon system44  7#aa7 ,any delay in    
procuring the ,iron ,dome batteries for 
the ,army jeopardizes the ability of the
 ,army to field an initial capability in
 #bjbj and creates continued risk to    
warfighters by leaving this identified  
critical capability gap unfulfilled4    
7#ab7 ,at an ,april #b1 #bjai1 hearing  
by the ,committee on ,armed ,services of
 the ,house of ,representatives1 the    
,chief of ,staff of the ,army ,general  
,mark ,milley stated1 ,the ,iron ,dome  
is a very capable system4 ,it has       
basically a #ajj percent track record in
 combat4 ,we clearly need it to protect 
our formations1 and we are buying the   
two batteries44  7#ac7 ,section #aab of 
the ,john ,s4 ,mc,cain ,national        
,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal
 ,year #bjai 7,public ,law #aae-bcb7    
provides that--  7,a7 if the ,secretary 
of ,defense certifies the need for the  

,army to deploy an interim missile      
defense capability1 the ,secretary of   
the ,army shall deploy at least two     
batteries to provide such capability not
 later than ,september #cj1 #bjbj1 and  
an additional two batteries not later   
than ,september #cj1 #bjbc2 and  7,b7 to
 meet such deadlines for deployment1 the
 ,secretary of the ,army may-- 7i7      
deploy such systems that require the    
least amount of development2 and  7ii7  
use any authority of the ,secretary     
relating to acquisition1 technology     
transfer1 and personnel management that 
the ,secretary considers appropriate1   
including rapid acquisition and rapid   
prototyping authorities1 to resource and
 procure an interim missile defense     
capability4  #c4 ,authority to procure  
,iron ,dome batteries  7a7 ,authority   
,pursuant to paragraph 7#c7 of section  
#aab7;b7 of the ,john ,s4 ,mc,cain      
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjai 7,public ,law   
#aae-bcb71 the ,secretary of the ,army  

may procure two ,iron ,dome batteries to
 carry out paragraph 7#a77;,a7 of such  
section to deploy an interim missile    
defense capability by not later than    
,september #cj1 #bjbj4  7b7             
,authorization of appropriations ,there 
is authorized to be appropriated        
#i1ccg1jjj to the ,secretary of the     
,army to carry out subsection 7a74