10 U.S.C. § 171a — Council on Oversight of the National Leadership Command, Control, and Communications System

(a) Establishment: The Department of Defense has a group called the "Council on Oversight of the National Leadership Command, Control, and Communications System," called "the Council" in this section. (b) Membership: The Council's members are: (1) the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; (2) the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; (3) the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; (4) the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command; (5) the Director of the National Security Agency; (6) the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Defense; (7) the Director of the White House Military Office; and (8) any other Defense Department officers the Secretary names. (c) Co-Chair: The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff co-chair the Council together. (d) Responsibilities: (1) The Council oversees the command, control, and communications system used by the nation's leaders. This includes nuclear command and control, warning and attack-assessment systems, and keeping the Department of Defense's government functions running. (2) Specifically, the Council oversees: (A) checking performance, including whether systems work together; (B) finding and fixing weaknesses; (C) developing the system's architecture, including space systems and ground equipment; (D) deciding what gets resources first; and (E) any other jobs the Secretary of Defense assigns. (e) Annual Reports: Until January 31, 2021, and afterward whenever the Council decides, the Council must send Congress's defense committees a yearly report, timed with the President's budget submission. Each report must cover: (1) the Council's activities during the past year; (2) planned activities for the upcoming defense budget period; (3) any changes made to the system's requirements, why they were made, and their effects; (4) how each budget item relates to the system's operation, research, or procurement; (5) an assessment of threats and weaknesses found under subsection (f), with any plans to fix them; and (6) an assessment of how ready the system and its layers are, especially for nuclear command and control. (f) Collection of Assessments on Certain Threats: The Council must gather and review all intelligence community reports on foreign threats, including cyber threats, to this leadership communications system, while properly protecting classified information and intelligence sources. (g) Budget and Funding Matters: (1) Within 30 days after the President submits a budget, the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command must tell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whether that budget covers the system's needs for the next five years, and if not, what is being done about it. (2) Within 30 days after getting that assessment, the Chairman must send it, along with any comments, to Congress's defense committees. (3) If Congress passes a funding bill the Council decides gives too little money for the system, the Council must tell the defense committees. (h) Reports on Space Architecture Development: (1) At least 90 days before certain systems reach a major approval milestone, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment must send Congress's defense committees a Council report on how any architecture changes affect the systems covered under subsection (d). (2) The systems covered are: (A) advanced extremely high frequency satellites; (B) the space-based infrared system; (C) the integrated tactical warning and attack assessment system and its command and control system; and (D) the enhanced polar system. (3) "Milestone A approval" and "Milestone B approval" mean what sections 4172(e) and 4251(d) of this title say they mean. (i) Notification of Reduction of Certain Warning Time: (1) No defense funds may be used to change the leadership communications system in a way that shortens the warning time before a strategic missile attack, unless the Secretary of Defense first notifies Congress's defense committees and then waits a full year. (2) By March 1, 2017, and every year after, the Council must decide whether the warning and attack-assessment system meets all requirements for being available, survivable, and durable in a fight. If it does not, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must jointly tell Congress's defense committees: (A) why the system fell short; (B) what is being done to fix it; and (C) the plan to meet the requirements next year. (j) Status of Acquisition Programs: (1) Every quarter, each manager of a "covered acquisition program" must report to the Council's co-chairs: (A) which program it is; (B) its requirements; (C) its development schedule; and (D) its status, including any delays and whether those delays will push back the schedule. (2) Within seven days after each six-month period ends, the co-chairs must send Congress's defense committees a report listing (A) any covered program delayed more than 180 days, and (B) any program that should have been listed but was not, and why. (3) A "covered acquisition program" is any Defense Department acquisition program that materially supports (A) the nation's nuclear command, control, and communications systems, or (B) continuity-of-government systems. (k) National Leadership of the United States Defined: In this section, "national leadership of the United States" means (1) the President, (2) the Vice President, and (3) any other civilian U.S. government officials the President names for this purpose.