S.Amdt. 2385

SA 2385. Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr.
Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed to the
bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 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 III, add the following:

SEC. 340. STARBASE PROGRAM.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The budget of the President for fiscal year 2019
requested no funding for the Department of Defense STARBASE
program.
(2) The purpose of the STARBASE program is to improve the
knowledge and skills of students in kindergarten through 12th
grade in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) subjects, to connect them to the military, and to
motivate them to explore science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics and possible military careers as they
continue their education.
(3) The STARBASE program currently operates at 76 locations
in 40 States and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico,
primarily on military installations.
(4) To date, nearly 750,000 students have participated in
the STARBASE program.
(5) The STARBASE program is a highly effective program run
by dedicated members of the Armed Forces and strengthens the
relationships between the military, communities, and local
school districts.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the STARBASE program should continue to be funded by the
Department of Defense.
(c) Funding.--
(1) In general.--The amount authorized to be appropriated
for fiscal year 2019 for the Department of Defense by section
301 is hereby increased by $25,000,000, with the amount of
the increase to be available for Operation and Maintenance,
Defense-wide, for Civil Military Programs for the STARBASE
program.
(2) Offset.--The amount authorized to be appropriated for
fiscal year 2019 for the Department of Defense by section 301
is hereby reduced by $25,000,000, with the amount of the
reduction to be taken from amounts available for Operation
and Maintenance, Navy, for Operating Forces for Enterprise
Information (Line 300).
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