,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dfbe  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #bc1 #bjbe,mr4 
,miller of ,ohio introduced the         
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a  
,,bill  ,to authorize the ,secretary of 
the ,navy to enter into a contract for  
the construction of submarine cable     
laying and repair ships1 and for other  
purposes4  #a4 ,short title  ,this ,act 
may be cited as the ,naval ,enhancement 
for ,protection of ,telecommunications  
,undersea ,network ,equipment ,act or   
the ,,neptune ,act4  #b4 ,procurement   
authority for submarine cable laying and
 repair ships  7a7 ,contract authority  
,the ,secretary of the ,navy may enter  
into a contract for the construction of 
up to two submarine cable laying and    
repair ships and associated material4   
7b7 ,liability ,any contract entered    
into under subsection 7a7 shall provide 
that--  7#a7 any obligation of the      
,united ,states to make a payment under 

the contract is subject to the          
availability of appropriations for that 
purpose2 and  7#b7 the total liability  
of the ,federal ,government for         
termination of the contract shall be    
limited to the total amount of funding  
obligated to the contract at the time of
 termination4  #c4 ,limitation on       
retirement of submarine cable laying and
 repair ship  7a7 ,in general ,the      
,secretary of the ,navy may not retire1 
prepare to retire1 or place in storage  
the ,,usns ,zeus until the date on which
 a replacement ship with capabilities   
equal to or exceeding those of the      
,,usns ,zeus has achieved full          
operational capability4  7b7            
,replacement ship defined ,in this      
section1 the term replacement ship--    
7#a7 means a submarine cable laying and 
repair ship designated ,,usns and       
maintained in the inventory of the      
,navy2 and  7#b7 does not include a     
commercial vessel leased or chartered by
 the ,navy4