Sec. 512. Offices of Commercial Integration
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It is the sense of Congress that— Congress is concerned that the administrative and technical burdens on small- and medium-sized emerging technology companies to do business with the intelligence community is inadvertently precluding the most cutting-edge, advanced companies from contracting with the United States Government; this dynamic has significant negative consequences for United States national security, including United States global technological competitiveness in the fields of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing, among others; some such companies have attempted still to contract with the intelligence community by spending valuable capital and time on government affairs experts to navigate the challenges of integrating into the intelligence community, yet, the administrative and technical burdens of contracting with the intelligence community are often too high even for the companies that are able to afford this consulting;
Congress believes that the United States Government has both an obligation and an opportunity to assist these technology companies navigate the hurdles it takes to work with the intelligence community to ensure that the Federal Government benefits from the best that the private sector has to offer; and doing so will help cultivate an ecosystem of cutting-edge technology companies that can provide products and services that are essential to the missions of the intelligence community, and advance the goal of ensuring United States adversaries do not outpace the United States in these critical fields.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the heads of the elements of the intelligence community, shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees a plan for the establishment of an office within each element, to be known as the Office of Commercial Integration of that element, for the purpose of providing administrative assistance to covered contractors. The plan under paragraph
(1)shall include the following: A proposal for the designation of a senior official of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who shall be responsible for the coordination across the Offices of Commercial Integration. Guidelines requiring each Director of Commercial Integration to share best practices and other information, and coordinate, with the other Directors of Commercial Integration. A timeline of the steps necessary to establish each Office of Commercial Integration by the date that is not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. An assessment of the personnel requirements, and any other resource requirements, necessary to establish each Office of Commercial Integration by such date, including an identification of— each Director of Commercial Integration; the amount of personnel necessary for the establishment of each Office of Commercial Integration; and the necessary qualifications of any such personnel. Policies regarding the types of administrative assistance that may be provided to covered contractors by each Office of Commercial Integration, taking into account the role of such assistance as an incentive for emerging technology companies to enter into contracts with the heads of the elements of the intelligence community. In developing such policies, the Director of National Intelligence shall prioritize assistance to reduce administrative burdens faced by preferred contractors. Eligibility criteria for determining the types of covered contractors that may receive administrative assistance provided by each Office of Commercial Integration. Guidelines that outline, with respect to a contract, at what stage covered contractors determined eligible pursuant to the criteria specified in subparagraph
(F)may receive such administrative assistance. Policies regarding outreach efforts to be conducted by each Director of Commercial Integration with respect to such eligible covered contractors. Policies regarding how the intelligence community will coordinate with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide proactive counterintelligence risk analysis and assistance to private entities. Such other intelligence community-wide policies as the Director of National Intelligence may prescribe relating to the improvement of commercial integration (and the coordination of such improvements) by and among the elements of the intelligence community. Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, each head of an element of the intelligence community shall establish within that element, in accordance with the plan under subsection (b), an Office of Commercial Integration of that element. Each Director of Commercial Integration may appoint personnel as the Director determines appropriate. Upon request of a Director of Commercial Integration, the head of any Federal department of agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of such department or agency to the Office of Commercial Integration concerned. In appointing personnel under paragraph
(1)and accepting detailed personnel pursuant to paragraph (2), each Director of Commercial Integration shall seek to appoint and accept personnel with expertise in a range of disciplines necessary for the accelerated integration of commercial technologies into the intelligence community (as determined by the Director), including expertise in the administrative burdens associated with the following: Authorization to operate certifications. Contracting. Facility clearances. Security clearances. Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, each Director of Commercial Integration shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees a report on the status of the Office of Commercial Integration concerned, including the following, with respect to the year covered by the report: A description of the assistance offered by the Director. A description of the methods by which the Director advertised such assistance. Any updates to the policies of such Office. Statistics on the types of covered contractors that received administrative assistance provided by such Office, and the extent of the use of the assistance by such covered contractors. A summary of any successes relating to administrative assistance provided by such Office. Recommendations on how to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of such Office. An identification of any additional resources or authorities necessary for such Office to fulfill the duties of the Office. In carrying out paragraph (1), each Director of Commercial Integration shall coordinate with the senior official designated pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(A). In this section: The term covered contractor has the meaning given that term in section 514(c). The term Director of Commercial Integration means the head of an Office of Commercial Integration. The term Office of Commercial Integration concerned , with respect to a Director of Commercial Integration, means the Office of Commercial Integration of which that Director is head. The term preferred contractor means a contractor described in section 514(c)(4).