Report on United States boot industrial base and Berry Amendment compliance

(a) Report required Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the United States boot industrial base, including a comprehensive plan for the Department of Defense to fully comply with the requirements under section 4862 of title 10, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Berry Amendment) by not later than fiscal year 2028. (b) Elements The report required under subsection (a) shall include the following elements: (1) A detailed description of current and surge manufacturing capacity for Berry-compliant, government-issued boots, including suppliers of leather, textiles, soles, and components, as well as risks to supply chain resilience and small business participation. Surge manufacturing capacity includes all major domestic manufacturers of boots including those not currently supplying Berry-compliant boots. (2) A market survey of domestic boot manufacturers regarding interest in producing Berry-compliant boots if there were to be a requirement that all members of the Armed Forces are required to only wear Berry-compliant boots. (3) A time-phased schedule of actions, milestones, and resources required to achieve full Berry Amendment compliance for combat footwear across all military services by fiscal year 2028. (4) An assessment of how current policies allowing the wear of optional combat boots that are not Berry-compliant undermine the intent of the Berry Amendment and weaken the United States industrial base, and recommendations for coming into compliance. (5) A plan to implement and enforce narrowly tailored availability and medical exemptions, as authorized under section 4862(c) of title 10, United States Code, with controls to prevent overuse. (6) Steps to expand industrial capacity for Berry-compliant government-issued boots through multiyear contracting, demand forecasting, inventory planning, and attracting new Berry-compliant suppliers by requiring that optional boots must be Berry-compliant.