POLICY REGARDING PERFORMANCE OF DEPOT-LEVEL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

SEC. 311. [10 U.S.C. 2464 note] POLICY REGARDING PERFORMANCE OF DEPOT-LEVEL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. (a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Department of Defense does not have a comprehensive policy regarding the performance of depot-level maintenance and repair of military equipment. (2) The absence of such a policy has caused the Congress to establish guidelines for the performance of such functions. (3) It is essential to the national security of the United States that the Department of Defense maintain an organic capability within the department, including skilled personnel, technical competencies, equipment, and facilities, to perform depot-level maintenance and repair of military equipment in order to ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States are able to meet training, operational, mobilization, and emergency requirements without impediment. (4) The organic capability of the Department of Defense to perform depot-level maintenance and repair of military equipment must satisfy known and anticipated core maintenance and repair requirements across the full range of peacetime and wartime scenarios. (5) Although it is possible that savings can be achieved by contracting with private-sector sources for the performance of some work currently performed by Department of Defense depots, the Department of Defense has not determined the type or amount of work that should be performed under contract with private-sector sources nor the relative costs and benefits of contracting for the performance of such work by those sources. (b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that there is a compelling need for the Department of Defense to articulate known and anticipated core maintenance and repair requirements, to organize the resources of the Department of Defense to meet those requirements economically and efficiently, and to determine what work should be performed by the private sector and how such work should be managed. (c) Requirement for Policy.—Not later than March 31, 1996, the Secretary of Defense shall develop and report to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives a comprehensive policy on the performance of depot-level maintenance and repair for the Department of Defense that maintains the capability described in section 2464 of title 10, United States Code. (d) Content of Policy.—In developing the policy, the Secretary of Defense shall do each of the following: (1) Identify for each military department, with the concurrence of the Secretary of that military department, those depot-level maintenance and repair activities that are necessary to ensure the depot-level maintenance and repair capability as required by section 2464 of title 10, United States Code. (2) Provide for performance of core depot-level maintenance and repair capabilities in facilities owned and operated by the United States. (3) Provide for the core capabilities to include sufficient skilled personnel, equipment, and facilities that— (A) is of the proper size (i) to ensure a ready and controlled source of technical competence and repair and maintenance capability necessary to meet the requirements of the National Military Strategy and other requirements for responding to mobilizations and military contingencies, and (ii) to provide for rapid augmentation in time of emergency; and (B) is assigned sufficient workload to ensure cost efficiency and technical proficiency in time of peace. (4) Address environmental liability. (5) In the case of depot-level maintenance and repair workloads in excess of the workload required to be performed by Department of Defense depots, provide for competition for those workloads between public and private entities when there is sufficient potential for realizing cost savings based on adequate private-sector competition and technical capabilities. (6) Address issues concerning exchange of technical data between the Federal Government and the private sector. (7) Provide for, in the Secretary's discretion and after consultation with the Secretaries of the military departments, the transfer from one military department to another, in accordance with merit-based selection processes, workload that supports the core depot-level maintenance and repair capabilities in facilities owned and operated by the United States. (8) Require that, in any competition for a workload (whether among private-sector sources or between depot-level activities of the Department of Defense and private-sector sources), bids are evaluated under a methodology that ensures that appropriate costs to the Government and the private sector are identified. (9) Provide for the performance of maintenance and repair for any new weapons systems defined as core, under section 2464 of title 10, United States Code, in facilities owned and operated by the United States. (e) Considerations.—In developing the policy, the Secretary shall take into consideration the following matters: (1) The national security interests of the United States. (2) The capabilities of the public depots and the capabilities of businesses in the private sector to perform the maintenance and repair work required by the Department of Defense. (3) Any applicable recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission that are required to be implemented under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. (4) The extent to which the readiness of the Armed Forces would be affected by a necessity to construct new facilities to accommodate any redistribution of depot-level maintenance and repair workloads that is made in accordance with the recommendation of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, that such workloads be consolidated at Department of Defense depots or private-sector facilities. (5) Analyses of costs and benefits of alternatives, including a comparative analysis of— (A) the costs and benefits, including any readiness implications, of any proposed policy to convert to contractor performance of depot-level maintenance and repair workloads where the workload is being performed by Department of Defense personnel; and (B) the costs and benefits, including any readiness implications, of a policy to transfer depot-level maintenance and repair workloads among depots. (f) Repeal of 60/40 Requirement and Requirement Relating to Competition.—(1) Sections 2466 and 2469 of title 10, United States Code, are repealed. (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 146 of such title is amended by striking out the items relating to sections 2466 and 2469. (3) The amendments made by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect on the date (after the date of the enactment of this Act) on which legislation is enacted that contains a provision that specifically states one of the following: (A) “The policy on the performance of depot-level maintenance and repair for the Department of Defense that was submitted by the Secretary of Defense to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives pursuant to section 311 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 is approved.”; or (B) “The policy on the performance of depot-level maintenance and repair for the Department of Defense that was submitted by the Secretary of Defense to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives pursuant to section 311 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 is approved with the following modifications:” (with the modifications being stated in matter appearing after the colon). (g) Annual Report.—If legislation referred to in subsection (f)(3) is enacted, the Secretary of Defense shall, not later than March 1 of each year (beginning with the year after the year in which such legislation is enacted), submit to Congress a report that— (1) specifies depot maintenance core capability requirements determined in accordance with the procedures established to comply with the policy prescribed pursuant to subsections (d)(2) and (d)(3); (2) specifies the planned amount of workload to be accomplished by the depot-level activities of each military department in support of those requirements for the following fiscal year; and (3) identifies the planned amount of workload, which— (A) shall be measured by direct labor hours and by amounts to be expended; and (B) shall be shown separately for each commodity group. (h) Review by General Accounting Office.—(1) The Secretary shall make available to the Comptroller General of the United States all information used by the Department of Defense in developing the policy under subsections (c) through (e) of this section. (2) Not later than 45 days after the date on which the Secretary submits to Congress the report required by subsection (c), the Comptroller General shall transmit to Congress a report containing a detailed analysis of the Secretary's proposed policy as reported under such subsection. (i) Report on Depot-Level Maintenance and Repair Workload.—Not later than March 31, 1996, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the depot-level maintenance and repair workload of the Department of Defense. The report shall, to the maximum extent practicable, include the following: (1) An analysis of the need for and effect of the requirement under section 2466 of title 10, United States Code, that no more than 40 percent of the depot-level maintenance and repair work of the Department of Defense be contracted for performance by non-Government personnel, including a description of the effect on military readiness and the national security resulting from that requirement and a description of any specific difficulties experienced by the Department of Defense as a result of that requirement. (2) An analysis of the distribution during the five fiscal years ending with fiscal year 1995 of the depot-level maintenance and repair workload of the Department of Defense between depot-level activities of the Department of Defense and non-Government personnel, measured by direct labor hours and by amounts expended, and displayed, for that five-year period and for each year of that period, so as to show (for each military department (and separately for the Navy and Marine Corps)) such distribution. (3) A projection of the distribution during the five fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1997 of the depot-level maintenance and repair workload of the Department of Defense between depot-level activities of the Department of Defense and non-Government personnel, measured by direct labor hours and by amounts expended, and displayed, for that five-year period and for each year of that period, so as to show (for each military department (and separately for the Navy and Marine Corps)) such distribution that would be accomplished under a new policy as required under subsection (c). (j) Other Review by General Accounting Office.—(1) The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an independent audit of the findings of the Secretary of Defense in the report under subsection (i). The Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Comptroller General for such purpose all information used by the Secretary in preparing such report. (2) Not later than 45 days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress the report required under subsection (i), the Comptroller General shall transmit to Congress a report containing a detailed analysis of the report submitted under that subsection.