Text of Senate Amendment 6337

On 2026-06-24, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6337" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6337

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3462-S3464] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6337. Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Ms. Lummis) 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 appropriate place in title XVI, insert the following: SEC. ___. SECURE AND INTEROPERABLE DEFENSE COLLABORATION TECHNOLOGY. (a) Definitions.--In this section: (1) Chief information officer.--The term ``Chief Information Officer'' means the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Defense. (2) Collaboration technology.--The term ``collaboration technology'' means a software system or application that offers one or more primary collaboration technology features. (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department of Defense. (4) End-to-end encryption.--The term ``end-to-end encryption'' means communications encryption in which data is encrypted when being passed through a network such that no party, other than the sender and each intended recipient of the communication, can access the decrypted communication, regardless of the transport technology used and the intermediaries or intermediate steps along the sending path. (5) Identified standards.--The term ``identified standards'' means the standard, or set of standards, identified under subsection (b)(2). (6) Interoperability.--The term ``interoperability'' has the meaning given the term in section 3601 of title 44, United States Code. (7) Open standard.--The term ``open standard'' means a standard, or a set of standards, that-- (A) is available for any individual to read and implement; (B) does not impose any royalty or other fee for use; and (C) can be certified for low or no cost to users of the standard or set of standards. (8) Primary collaboration technology feature.--The term ``primary collaboration technology feature'' means a technology feature or function that-- (A) facilitates remote work or collaboration within the Department; (B) facilitates the work or collaboration described in subparagraph (A) by providing functionality that is core or essential, rather than ancillary or secondary; and (C) is identified by the Chief Information Officer under subsection (b)(1). (9) Standards-compatible collaboration technology.--The term ``standards-compatible collaboration technology'' means collaboration technology-- (A) each primary collaboration technology feature of which is compatible with the identified standards for such a primary collaboration technology feature; and (B) that has demonstrated compliance under subsection (d)(2). (10) Voluntary consensus standard.--The term ``voluntary consensus standard'' has the meaning given such term in Circular A-119 of the Office of Management and Budget entitled ``Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities'', issued in revised form on January 27, 2016. (11) Third-party hosting server.--The term ``third-party hosting server'' means any computer or software system which is not directly operated and managed by the Department. (b) Identifying Standards for Defense Collaboration Technology.-- (1) Identification of features.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer shall, in consultation with such others as the Chief Information Officer considers relevant, identify a list of primary collaboration technology features, including-- (A) voice and video calling, including-- (i) calling between two individuals within the Department (including any agencies or departments within the Department); and (ii) calling between not less than three individuals within the Department (including any agencies or departments within the Department); (B) text-based messaging within the Department (including any agencies or departments within the Department); (C) file sharing within the Department (including any agencies or departments within the Department); (D) live document editing within the Department (including any agencies or departments within the Department); (E) scheduling and calendaring within the Department (including any agencies or departments within the Department); and (F) any other technology feature or function that the Chief Information Officer considers appropriate. (2) Identification of standards.--Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer shall identify a standard, or set of standards, for collaboration technology used by the Department that-- (A) for each primary collaboration technology feature, specifies interoperability protocols, and any other protocol, format, requirement, or guidance required to create interoperable implementations of that feature, including-- (i) protocols for applications to specify and standardize security, including systems for-- (I) identifying and authenticating the individuals who are party to a communication or collaboration task; (II) controlling the attendance and security settings of voice and video calls; and (III) controlling access and editing rights for shared documents; and (ii) protocols for any ancillary feature the Chief Information Officer identifies to support the core primary collaboration technology feature, including participation features available within video meetings; (B) to the extent possible, is based on open standards; (C) to the extent possible, is based on standards planned, developed, established, or coordinated using procedures consistent with those for voluntary consensus standards; (D) subject to paragraph (3), uses end-to-end encryption technology; (E) incorporates protocols, guidance, and requirements based on best practices for the cybersecurity of collaboration technology and collaboration technology features; [[Page S3463]] (F) to the extent practicable, integrates cybersecurity technology designed to protect communications from surveillance by foreign adversaries, including technology to protect communications metadata from traffic analysis, with requirements developed in consultation with such others as the Chief Information Officer considers relevant; (G) to the extent practicable, is usable by, or offers options for, users with internet connections that have low- bandwidth or high-latency; (H) subject to paragraph (5), with respect to the use of primary collaboration technology features, adds requirements to the identified standards that enables compliance with record retention and disclosure obligations, and permit internal lawful access for law enforcement purposes; and (I) to the extent practicable, is compatible with all relevant information management rules, regulations, and policies, without the need for waivers or exceptions to such requirements. (3) End-to-end encryption requirements.-- (A) In general.--The end-to-end encryption technology selected as part of the identified standards under paragraph (2), to the extent practicable, shall ensure that collaboration and communications content data cannot be compromised if a third-party hosting server is compromised. (B) End-to-end encryption not available.--Subject to subparagraph (C), if the Chief Information Officer has identified an ancillary feature or function for a primary collaboration technology feature and is unable to identify a standard, or set of standards, that uses end-to-end encryption and that is compatible with such ancillary feature or function, the Chief Information Officer may identify a standard or set of standards that does not utilize end-to-end encryption that may be used to support the ancillary feature or function. (C) End-to-end encryption by default.-- (i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), the Chief Information Officer shall ensure that, with respect to the use of standards-compatible collaboration technology that offers an ancillary technology feature or function described in subparagraph (B)-- (I) the ancillary feature or function is disabled by default; and (II) the primary collaboration technology feature uses end- to-end encryption. (ii) Exception.--Clause (i) shall not apply to the use of a primary collaboration technology feature with an ancillary feature or function described in subparagraph (B) if-- (I) the Chief Information Officer has enabled the use of the ancillary feature or function within the Department; (II) each user of the ancillary feature or function has been notified of the additional cybersecurity and surveillance risks accompanying the use of the ancillary feature or function; (III) each user of the ancillary feature or function has explicitly opted into the use of the ancillary feature or function; and (IV) the primary collaboration technology feature offers a means for the Chief Information Officer to collect aggregate statistics about the use of the options that are not end-to- end encrypted. (D) Encryption status transparency.--To the extent practicable, the Chief Information Officer shall identify protocols, guidance, or requirements to ensure that standards-compatible collaboration technology provides users the ability to easily see the encryption status of any collaboration feature in use. (4) Considerations.--In identifying the identified standards, the Chief Information Officer shall consider secure, standards-based technologies adopted by a component or element of the Department, allies of the United States, State and local governments, and the private sector. (5) Compliance with record-keeping requirements.--The Chief Inf