Sec. 228. HOMELAND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE

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## SEC. 228 HOMELAND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE ###

(a)Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— ####

(1)it is a national priority to defend the United States homeland against the threat of limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate); ####

(2)the currently deployed ground-based midcourse defense system, with 30 ground-based interceptors deployed in Alaska and California, provides a level of protection of the United States homeland; ####

(3)it is essential for the ground-based midcourse defense system to achieve the levels of reliability, availability, sustainability, and operational performance that will allow it to continue providing protection of the United States homeland; ####

(4)the Missile Defense Agency should, as its highest priority, correct the problem that caused the December 2010 ground-based midcourse defense system flight test failure and demonstrate the correction in flight tests before resuming production of the capability enhancement-II kill vehicle, in order to provide confidence that the system will work as intended; ####

(5)the Department of Defense should continue to enhance the performance and reliability of the ground-based midcourse defense system, and enhance the capability of the ballistic missile defense system, to provide improved capability to defend the homeland; ####

(6)the Missile Defense Agency should have a robust, rigorous, and operationally realistic testing program for the ground-based midcourse defense system, including salvo testing, multiple simultaneous engagement testing, and operational testing; ####

(7)the Department of Defense has taken a number of prudent, affordable, cost-effective, and operationally significant steps to hedge against the possibility of future growth in the missile threat to the homeland from North Korea and Iran; and ####

(8)the Department of Defense should continue to evaluate the evolving threat of limited ballistic missile attack, particularly from countries such as North Korea and Iran, and consider other possibilities for prudent, affordable, cost-effective, and operationally significant steps to improve the posture of the United States to defend the homeland. ###

(b)Report ####

(1)Report required Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the status of efforts to improve the homeland ballistic missile defense capability of the United States. ####

(2)Elements of report The report required by paragraph

(1)shall include the following: #####

(A)A detailed description of the actions taken or planned to improve the reliability, availability, and capability of the ground-based midcourse defense system, particularly the exoatmospheric kill vehicle, and any other actions to improve the homeland missile defense posture to hedge against potential future growth in the threat of limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate), particularly from countries such as North Korea and Iran. #####

(B)A description of any improvements achieved as a result of the actions described in subparagraph (A). #####

(C)A description of the results of the two planned flight tests of the ground-based midcourse defense system (control test vehicle flight test-1, and GMD flight test-06b) intended to demonstrate the success of the correction of the problem that caused the flight test failure of December 2010, and the status of any decision to resume production of the capability enhancement-II kill vehicle. #####

(D)a detailed description of the planned roles and requirements for the standard missile-3 block IIB interceptor to augment the defense of the homeland, including the capabilities needed to defeat long-range missiles that could be launched from Iran to the United States; #####

(E)Any other matters the Secretary considers appropriate. ####

(3)Form of report The report shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. ###

(c)Comptroller General Briefing and Report ####

(1)Briefing Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary submits the report under subsection (b)(1), the Comptroller General of the United States shall brief the congressional defense committees with the views of the Comptroller General on the report. ####

(2)Report As soon as practicable after the date on which the Comptroller General briefs the congressional defense committees under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall submit to such committees a report on the views included in such briefing.