Sec. 1235. Limitation on availability of funds relating to implementation of the Open Skies Treaty
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None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for any fiscal year after fiscal year 2017 for the Department of Defense for operation and maintenance, Defense-wide, or operation and maintenance, Air Force, may be obligated or expended to conduct any flight during such fiscal year for purposes of implementing the Open Skies Treaty until the date that is seven days after the date on which the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a plan described in paragraph
(2)with respect to such fiscal year. The plan described in this paragraph is a plan developed by the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of National Intelligence, that contains a description of the objectives for all planned flights described in paragraph
(1)during such fiscal year. To the extent necessary and appropriate, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of National Intelligence, may update the plan described in paragraph
(2)with respect to a fiscal year and submit the updated plan to the appropriate congressional committees. In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the congressional defense committees; and the Select Committee on Intelligence and Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. The requirements of this subsection shall terminate on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this Act. None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2018 for research, development, test, and evaluation, Air Force, for arms control implementation (PE 0305145F) or procurement, Air Force, for digital visual imaging system (BA–05, Line Item #1900) may be obligated or expended to carry out any activities to modify any United States aircraft for purposes of implementing the Open Skies Treaty until the Secretary of Defense submits to the appropriate congressional committees the certification described in paragraph
(2)and the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees the certification described in paragraph (3). The certification described in this paragraph is a certification that contains a determination of the Secretary of Defense, without delegation, that modification of digital visual imaging systems in United States OC–135 aircraft under the Open Skies Treaty will provide superior digital imagery as compared to digital imagery that is available to the Department of Defense on a commercial basis. The certification described in this paragraph is a certification of the President that— the President has imposed treaty violations responses and legal countermeasures on the Russian Federation for its violations of the Open Skies Treaty; and the President has fully informed the appropriate congressional committees of such responses and countermeasures. The President may delegate the responsibility for making a certification under subparagraph
(A)to the Secretary of the State. In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the congressional defense committees; and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. In this section, the term Open Skies Treaty means the Treaty on Open Skies, done at Helsinki March 24, 1992, and entered into force January 1, 2002.