S.Amdt. 2974

SA 2974. Mr. McCAIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 1585, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 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 end of subtitle D of title I, add the following:

SEC. 143. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE AIR FORCE STRATEGY FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE AERIAL REFUELING TANKER AIRCRAFT FLEET.

It is the sense of Congress that--

(1) the timely modernization of the Air Force aerial refueling tanker fleet is a vital national security priority; and

(2) in furtherance of meeting this priority, the Secretary of the Air Force has initiated, and Congress approves of, a comprehensive strategy for replacing the aerial refueling tanker aircraft fleet, which includes the following elements:

(A) Replacement of the aging tanker aircraft fleet with newer and improved capabilities under the KC-X program of record which supports the tanker replacement strategy, through the purchase of new commercial derivative aircraft.

(B) Sustainment and extension of the legacy tanker aircraft fleet until replacement through depot-type modifications and upgrades of KC-135 aircraft and KC-10 aircraft.

(C) Augmentation of the aerial refueling capability through aerial refueling Fee-for-Service.