Text of Senate Amendment 6344

Text in the Record

SA 6344. Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. Rounds) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

DIVISION _--UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA DISCLOSURE

SEC. __01. SHORT TITLE.

This division may be cited as the ``Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act of 2026'' or the ``UAP Disclosure Act of 2026''.

SEC. __02. FINDINGS, DECLARATIONS, AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings and Declarations.--Congress finds and declares the following: (1) All Federal Government records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena should be preserved and centralized for historical and Federal Government purposes. (2) All Federal Government records concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena should carry a presumption of immediate disclosure and all records should be eventually disclosed to enable the public to become fully informed about the history of the Federal Government's knowledge and involvement surrounding unidentified anomalous phenomena. (3) Legislation is necessary to create an enforceable, independent, and accountable process for the public disclosure of such records. (4) Legislation is necessary because credible evidence and testimony indicates that Federal Government unidentified anomalous phenomena records exist that have not been declassified or subject to mandatory declassification review as set forth in Executive Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security information) due in part to exemptions under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), as well as an over-broad interpretation of ``transclassified foreign nuclear information'', which is also exempt from mandatory declassification, thereby preventing public disclosure under existing provisions of law. (5) Legislation is necessary because section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Freedom of Information Act''), as implemented by the Executive branch of the Federal Government, has proven inadequate in achieving the timely public disclosure of Government unidentified anomalous phenomena records that are subject to mandatory declassification review. (6) Legislation is necessary to restore proper oversight over unidentified anomalous phenomena records by elected officials in both the executive and legislative branches of the Federal Government that has otherwise been lacking as of the enactment of this Act. (7) Legislation is necessary to afford complete and timely access to all knowledge gained by the Federal Government concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena in furtherance of comprehensive open scientific and technological research and development essential to avoiding or mitigating potential technological surprise in furtherance of urgent national security concerns and the public interest. (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this division are-- (1) to provide for the creation of the unidentified anomalous phenomena Records Collection at the National Archives and Records Administration; and (2) to require the expeditious public transmission to the Archivist and public disclosure of such records.

SEC. __03. DEFINITIONS.

In this division: (1) Archivist.--The term ``Archivist'' means the Archivist of the United States. (2) Close observer.--The term ``close observer'' means anyone who has come into close proximity to unidentified anomalous phenomena or non-human intelligence. (3) Collection.--The term ``Collection'' means the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection established under section __04. (4) Controlled disclosure campaign plan.--The term ``Controlled Disclosure Campaign Plan'' means the Controlled Disclosure Campaign Plan required by section __09(c)(3). (5) Controlling authority.--The term ``controlling authority'' means any Federal, State, or local government department, office, agency, committee, commission, commercial company, academic institution, or private sector entity in physical possession of technologies of unknown origin or biological evidence of non-human intelligence. (6) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. (7) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' means an Executive agency, as defined in subsection 552(f) of title 5, United States Code. (8) Government office.--The term ``Government office'' means any department, office, agency, committee, or commission of the Federal Government and any independent office or agency without exception that has possession or control, including via contract or other agreement, of unidentified anomalous phenomena records. (9) Identification aid.--The term ``identification aid'' means the written description prepared for each record, as required in section __04. (10) Leadership of congress.--The term ``leadership of Congress'' means-- (A) the majority leader of the Senate; (B) the minority leader of the Senate; (C) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and (D) the minority leader of the House of Representatives. (11) Legacy program.--The term ``legacy program'' means all Federal, State, and local government, commercial industry, academic, and private sector endeavors to collect, exploit, or reverse engineer technologies of unknown origin or examine biological evidence of living or deceased non-human intelligence that pre-dates the date of the enactment of this Act. (12) National archives.--The term ``National Archives'' means the National Archives and Records Administration and all components thereof, including presidential archival depositories established under section 2112 of title 44, United States Code. (13) Non-human intelligence.--The term ``non-human intelligence'' means any sentient intelligent non-human lifeform regardless of nature or ultimate origin that may be presumed responsible for unidentified anomalous phenomena or of which the Federal Government has become aware. (14) Originating body.--The term ``originating body'' means the Executive agency, Federal Government commission, committee of Congress, or other Governmental entity that created a record or particular information within a record. (15) Prosaic attribution.--The term ``prosaic attribution'' means having a human (either foreign or domestic) origin and operating according to current, proven, and generally understood scientific and engineering principles and established laws-of-nature and not attributable to non-human intelligence. (16) Public interest.--The term ``public interest'' means the compelling interest in the prompt public disclosure of unidentified anomalous phenomena records for historical and Governmental purposes and for the purpose of fully informing the people of the United States about the history of the Federal Government's knowledge and involvement surrounding unidentified anomalous phenomena. (17) Record.--The term ``record'' includes a book, paper, report, memorandum, directive, email, text, or other form of communication, or map, photograph, sound or video recording, machine-readable material, computerized, digitized, or electronic information, including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and target acquisition sensor data, regardless of the medium on which it is stored, or other documentary material, regardless of its physical form or characteristics. (18) Review board.--The term ``Review Board'' means the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Review Board established by section __07. (19) Technologies of unknown origin.--The term ``technologies of unknown origin'' means any materials or meta-materials, ejecta, crash debris, mechanisms, machinery, equipment, assemblies or sub-assemblies, engineering models or processes, damaged or intact aerospace vehicles, and damaged or intact ocean-surface and undersea craft associated with unidentified anomalous phenomena or incorporating science and technology that lacks prosaic attribution or known means of human manufacture. (20) Temporarily non-attributed objects.-- (A) In general.--The term ``temporarily non-attributed objects'' means the class of objects that temporarily resist prosaic attribution by the initial observer as a result of environmental or system limitations associated with the observation process that nevertheless ultimately have an accepted human origin or known physical cause. Although some unidentified anomalous phenomena may at first be interpreted as temporarily non-attributed objects, they are not temporarily non-attributed objects, and the two categories are mutually exclusive. (B) Inclusion.--The term ``temporarily non-attributed objects'' includes--

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(i) natural celestial, meteorological, and undersea weather phenomena; (ii) mundane human-made airborne objects, clutter, and marine debris; (iii) Federal, State, and local government, commercial industry, academic, and private sector aerospace platforms; (iv) Federal, State, and local government, commercial industry, academic, and private sector ocean-surface and undersea vehicles; and (v) known foreign systems. (21) Third agency.--The term ``third agency'' means a Government agency that originated a unidentified anomalous phenomena record that is in the possession of another Government agency. (22) Unidentified anomalous phenomena.-- (A) In general.--The term ``unidentified anomalous phenomena'' means any object operating or judged capable of operating in outer-space, the atmosphere, ocean surfaces, or undersea lacking prosaic attribution due to performance characteristics and properties not previously known to be achievable based upon commonly accepted physical principles. Unidentified anomalous phenomena are differentiated from both attributed and temporarily non-attributed objects by one or more of the following observables: (i) Instantaneous acceleration absent apparent inertia. (ii) Hypersonic velocity absent a thermal signature and sonic shockwave. (iii) Transmedium (such as space-to-ground and air-to- undersea) travel. (iv) Positive lift contrary to known aerodynamic principles. (v) Multispectral signature control. (vi) Physical or invasive biological effects to close observers and the environment. (B) Inclusions.--The term ``unidentified anomalous phenomena'' includes what were previously described as-- (i) flying discs; (ii) flying saucers; (iii) unidentified aerial phenomena; (iv) unidentified flying objects (UFOs); and (v) unidentified submerged objects (USOs). (23) Unidentified anomalous phenomena record.--The term ``unidentified anomalous phenomena record'' means a record that is related to unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, or non-human intelligence (and all equivalent subjects by any other name with the specific and sole exclusion of temporarily non-attributed objects) that was created or made available for use by, obtained by, or otherwise came into the possession of-- (A) the Executive Office of the President; (B) the Department of Defense and its progenitors, the Department of War and the Department of the Navy; (C) the Department of the Army; (D) the Department of the Navy; (E) the Department of the Air Force, specifically the Air Force Office of Special Investigations; (F) the Department of Energy and its progenitors, the Manhattan Project, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Energy Research and Development Administration; (G) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; (H) the Central Intelligence Agency and its progenitor, the Office of Strategic Services; (I) the National Reconnaissance Office; (J) the Defense Intelligence Agency; (K) the National Security Agency; (L) the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; (M) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: (N) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (O) the Federal Aviation Administration; (P) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; (Q) the Library of Congress; (R) the National Archives and Records Administration; (S) any Presidential library; (T) any Executive agency; (U) any independent office or agency; (V) any other department, office, agency, committee, or commission of the Federal Government; (W) any State or local government department, office, agency, committee, or commission that provided support or assistance or performed work, in connection with a Federal inquiry into unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, or non-human intelligence; and (X) any private sector person or entity formerly or currently under contract or some other agreement with the Federal Government.

SEC. __04. UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA RECORDS COLLECTION AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION.

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