[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4978 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4978

To require a study and report on a potential transfer of Israel to the 
        area of responsibility of United States Central Command.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 8, 2020

 Mr. Cotton (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Tillis, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. 
Wicker, Mr. Hawley, and Ms. Ernst) introduced the following bill; which 
   was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a study and report on a potential transfer of Israel to the 
        area of responsibility of United States Central Command.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Israel CENTCOM Reclassification 
Act''.

SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON POTENTIAL TRANSFER OF ISRAEL TO AREA OF 
              RESPONSIBILITY OF UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Israel is a vital diplomatic, economic, and security 
        partner of the United States.
            (2) The United States, Israel, and certain neighboring Arab 
        countries cooperate on security matters to counter shared 
        regional threats, such as Iran.
            (3) The normalization of ties between Israel and the United 
        Arab Emirates, the normalization of ties between Israel and the 
        Kingdom of Bahrain, and the announcement by Israel and Sudan 
        that such countries will pursue the normalization of ties have 
        dramatically changed the security environment in the Middle 
        East in favor of peace and cooperation between Israel and 
        neighboring Arab countries.
            (4) In assigning the geographic boundaries of unified 
        combatant commands, the Unified Command Plan specifically 
        requires the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider 
        ``whether the current geographic boundary between the United 
        States Central Command and European Command through the Middle 
        East could create command conflicts in the context of a major 
        regional conflict in the Middle East region.''.
            (5) The current placement of Israel within the area of 
        responsibility of the United States European Command may not 
        optimize coordination among the United States, Israel, and 
        other partners in the Middle East on issues of regional 
        security.
            (6) Efforts to improve coordination between the Israel 
        Defense Forces and the United States Central Command are 
        underway and have made meaningful progress in the past decade.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Secretary of Defense should consider opportunities to strengthen shared 
deterrence and foster deeper coordination between the United States and 
its allies and partners in the Middle East on vital defense activities, 
including military operations, combined exercises, strategic planning, 
theater missile defense, and pre-positioning of United States weaponry 
in the region.
    (c) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall instruct the Joint 
        Chiefs of Staff or one or more other appropriate individuals to 
        conduct a study on a potential transfer of Israel from the area 
        of responsibility of the United States European Command to the 
        area of responsibility of the United States Central Command.
            (2) Elements.--The study required by paragraph (1) shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) An overall assessment of the feasibility and 
                advisability of transferring responsibility for Israel 
                from the United States European Command to the United 
                States Central Command, including any impact on the 
                security of Israel and the operational, readiness, 
                training, personnel, and budgetary implications for the 
                United States.
                    (B) An assessment of the advantages and 
                disadvantages associated with such a transfer, 
                including an evaluation of the necessary steps to 
                ensure continuity of North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
                activities with Israel and joint United States-Israel 
                missile defense training and contingency planning.
                    (C) An assessment of the advantages and 
                disadvantages associated with retaining the status quo.
                    (D) Consideration of the views of the Minister of 
                Defense of Israel and the head of the Israel Defense 
                Forces, including with respect to the potential impact 
                on the operations and readiness of Israel.
    (d) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report on the 
        results of the study conducted under subsection (c).
            (2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in classified form together with an unclassified 
        summary.
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