,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #dbhe  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #h1       
#bjbd,mr4 ,peters 7for himself and ,mr4 
,budd7 introduced the following bill2   
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,foreign ,relations  ,a  
,,bill  ,to amend the ,national ,defense
 ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year  
#bjaf to improve cooperation between the
 ,united ,states and ,israel on         
anti-tunnel defense capabilities4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,united ,states-,israel             
,anti-,tunnel ,cooperation ,act4  #b4   
,findings ,congress makes the following 
findings3 7#a7 ,israel is an            
international leader in developing      
innovative defense technologies1        
including by pioneering efforts to map1 
detect1 destroy1 and maneuver through   
terror tunnels4  7#b7 ,terrorist        
organizations on ,israel's borders1 such
 as ,hamas1 ,hezbollah1 and ,palestinian
 ,islamic ,jihad 7,,pij71 with ,iran's  

help1 have constructed a labyrinth of   
subterranean passages under the ,gaza   
,strip and areas of southern ,lebanon to
 improve their military capabilities as 
well as to attack and kidnap ,israeli   
soldiers and civilians4  7#c7 ,since    
,october #g1 #bjbc1 over #a1ejj new     
terror tunnel shafts1 approximately #cej
 to #dej miles long1 built under        
hospitals1 schools1 and homes in ,gaza  
have been discovered1 with over #e1gjj  
entrance points4  7#d7 ,in the ,gaza    
,strip1 ,hamas intentionally uses       
civilians as human shields by placing   
its underground tunnel network beneath  
densely populated areas1 connecting its 
terror infrastructure to schools1       
hospitals1 and mosques4  7#e7 ,tunnels  
in ,gaza and ,lebanon are used as       
underground rocket manufacturing and    
launching sites1 weapons caches1        
bunkers1 transportation networks1 and   
command and control centers4  7#f7      
,united ,states and ,israeli            
intelligence indicates that ,hamas's    

military leadership is both sheltering  
in the subterranean tunnel network and  
using it to hold innocent ,israeli      
hostages4  7#g7 ,the ,united ,states    
faces similar subterranean threats on   
the ,korean ,peninsula1 the southern    
border1 and in various theaters in the  
,middle ,east4  7#h7 ,israel shares its 
anti-tunnel technology with the         
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,homeland ,security1     
which work to advance this technology   
further1 enhancing the ,united ,states' 
ability to deal with this growing threat
 on at the border and around the world4 
7#i7 ,since ,october #g1 #bjbc1 there is
 an increased need to scale up bilateral
 cooperation on anti-tunneling efforts  
as a reflection of the complexity of the
 subterranean terror reality in ,gaza   
revealed since the start of ,israel's   
military campaign4  7#aj7 ,such an      
increase in joint ,united               
,states-,israel cooperation will not    
only benefit ,israel1 but will also help

 the ,united ,states and allies across  
the globe that face similar challenges  
from subterranean tunnels4  #c4         
,modification of annual limitation on   
amount available for ,united            
,states-,israel anti-tunnel cooperation 
,section #abgi7;b77#d7 of the ,national 
,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal
 ,year #bjaf 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #hfjf note7 
is amended by striking #ej1jjj1jjj and  
inserting #hj1jjj1jjj4