Text of Senate Amendment 6308

On 2026-06-24, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6308" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6308

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3445] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6308. Mr. CRUZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of subtitle B of title III, add the following: SEC. 320C. SHARING OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATIONAL DATA. (a) Requirement.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Commerce in coordination with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall establish a process under which the Secretary of Defense, on a continual or recurring basis, shall review and share environmental observational data collected by the Department of Defense with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the purposes of improving weather, ocean, space weather forecasting, or any other mission area of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as determined by the Secretary of Defense. (b) Data Eligible for Sharing.--The process established under subsection (a) shall identify real-time, near real- time, and longer-time series environmental observational data that-- (1) may improve weather, ocean, or space weather forecasts; (2) is able to be released in an unclassified or declassified form; (3) is free from redistribution restrictions in contract or other written agreements; and (4) can be shared in standard machine-readable formats and includes metadata. (c) Declassification Review.--In establishing the process under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures to review environmental observational data for potential declassification or release in a manner that protects sensitive sources and methods and preserves the security of ongoing operations. (d) Distribution Limitations for National Security.--In establishing the process under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce shall establish procedures to review options and appropriate mechanisms to conditionally limit distribution of certain military environmental observational data provided under this section during a national security crisis or war to deny adversary use of such data while maintaining access by United States civil agencies and non-adversarial nations. (e) Report to Congress.--Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly submit to Congress a report describing-- (1) categories of environmental observational data identified for potential sharing under subsection (a); (2) barriers to declassification or release of such data; and (3) recommendations to improve interagency data sharing and any other relevant recommendations. ______