Text of Senate Amendment 6708

On 2026-07-27, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6708" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6708

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 122 (Monday, July 27, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 122 (Monday, July 27, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S4285] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6708. Mrs. BLACKBURN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her 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 appropriate place in title II, insert the following: SEC. ___. PILOT PROGRAM ON RENEWABLE WATER-FROM-AIR SYSTEM FIELDING AND EVALUATION. (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall establish a pilot program for the rapid fielding, testing, and evaluation of approved renewable water-from-air (RWA) systems. (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this pilot program established under subsection (a) is to procure and deploy approved renewable water-from-air systems at select domestic and foreign installations with the intent of evaluating-- (1) capabilities to provide resilient and independent strategic, operational, and tactical, expeditionary, and distributed water sustainment; (2) capacity to support installation or unit water sustainment needs, including under emergency and combat scenarios; and (3) ability to support global and domestic humanitarian and disaster response missions. (c) Selection of Installations and Missions.-- (1) In general.--The Secretary shall select domestic and foreign installations or expeditionary missions on which it will deploy one or more approved renewable water-from-air systems. (2) Priority.--In selecting these locations, the Secretary shall prioritize locations where water infrastructure or supply chains are likely to be contested, degraded, geographically constrained, environmentally stressed, or vulnerable to disruption by natural disasters, infrastructure failure, cyberattack, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN), kinetic attack, sabotage, or other disruptions. (d) System Selections.--In procuring or acquiring renewable water-from-air systems, the Secretary shall require the following criteria to have been met prior to deployment: (1) Domestically manufactured with 85 percent United States supply chain and have no ownership or control by a foreign entity of concern (as defined in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651)). (2) Undergone field trials, field testing, or been used in combat at any time before the date of the enactment of this Act by one or more element of the uniformed services (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code). (3) Equipped with protections for making water in electromagnetic pulse attack- and nuclear-contested environments. (e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on which the pilot program required by subsection (a) is completed, but not later than March 31, 2030, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that evaluates the deployment of renewable water-from-air systems, including-- (1) system performance and cost; (2) water sustainment capabilities; (3) capability to enhance resilience and redundancy; (4) recommendations relating to further research; and (5) establishment of a program of record and system acquisition for the wider uniformed services (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code). (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section, $25,000,000 for the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on September 30, 2029. ______