Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purposes, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a public-private partnership through which the Secretary shall work to incentivize the formation of one or more consortia of companies (or other such partnerships of private-sector entities, as appropriate) to ensure the development and production of measurably secure microelectronics, including integrated circuits, logic devices, memory, and the packaging and testing practices that support these microelectronic components by the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, critical infrastructure sectors, and other national security applications. Such incentives may include the use of grants under section 4652 of this title, and providing incentives for the creation, expansion, or modernization of one or more commercially competitive and sustainable microelectronics manufacturing or advanced research and development facilities in the United States.
Arrangements entered into to carry out paragraph (1) shall be in such form as the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate to encourage industry participation of nontraditional defense contractors or commercial entities and may include a contract, a grant, a cooperative agreement, a commercial agreement, the use of other transaction authority under section 2371 [2] of title 10 or another such arrangement.
Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purposes, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, as appropriate, may dedicate initiatives within the Department of Defense to carry out activities to advance radio frequency, mixed signal, radiation tolerant, and radiation hardened microelectronics that support national security and dual-use applications.
The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the heads of appropriate departments and agencies of the Federal Government, shall develop a plan, including assessment of resource requirements and designation of responsible officials, for the maintenance of capabilities to produce trusted and assured microelectronics to support current and legacy defense systems, other government systems essential for national security, and critical infrastructure of the United States, especially for items with otherwise limited commercial demand.
In conjunction with the activities carried out under this section, the Secretary of Defense shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to undertake a study to make recommendations and provide policy options for optimal public-private partnerships and partnership activities, including an analysis of establishing a semiconductor manufacturing corporation to leverage private sector technical, managerial, and investment expertise, and private capital, as well as an assessment of and response to the industrial policies of other nations to support industries in similar critical technology sectors, and deliver such study to the congressional defense committees not later than October 1, 2022.
Not later than 90 days after January 1, 2021, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the plans of the Secretary to carry out paragraphs (1) and (6).
Not later than one year after the date on which the Secretary submits the report required by subparagraph (A) and not less frequently than once every two years thereafter for a period of 10 years, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the activities carried out under this subsection.
In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, through a competitive process, select two or more entities to carry out the activities described in paragraph (2) as part of the network established under paragraph (1).
The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that the entities selected under subparagraph (A) collectively represent the geographic diversity of the United States.