S.Amdt. 2859

SA 2859. Ms. CANTWELL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2282 proposed by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr.
McCain) 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 F of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1066. ESTABLISHMENT OF BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, in
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of Defense, shall establish a Blue Ribbon
Commission (referred to in this section as the
``Commission'')--
(1) to study--
(A) the fixed-wing aircraft available to the Federal
Government for wildfire suppression as of the date of the
study; and
(B) the likely demand for fixed-wing aircraft for wildfire
suppression over the 10-year period beginning on the date of
enactment of this Act; and
(2) to submit to the Secretary of the Interior, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Defense, and the
relevant committees of Congress a report with specific
recommendations for the safe and effective future of the
Federal wildland fire aviation program.
(b) Contents.--The report submitted under subsection (a)(2)
shall include recommendations for--
(1) the types, quantities, and ownership and contracting
models of the fixed-wing aircraft that should comprise the
Federal fleet of wildfire suppression aircraft, specifically
for very large airtankers, single-engine airtankers, water
scoopers, and large airtankers, including--
(A) the modular airborne firefighting systems operated by
the Secretary of the Air Force; and
(B) the 7 demilitarized HC-130H aircraft with serial
numbers 1706, 1708, 1709, 1713, 1714, 1719, and 1721 that
were transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture by the
Secretary of the Air Force under section 1098(a)(2)(A)(iii)
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2014 (Public Law 113-66; 127 Stat. 882); and
(2) agency policies governing--
(A) situations in which fixed-wing aircraft should be used
for wildfire suppression; and
(B) situations in which fixed-wing aircraft should not be
used due to safety, cost, or effectiveness concerns.
(c) Constraints.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
Commission shall assume, for the purposes of preparing the
report required under subsection (a)(2), that the Federal
fleet described in subsection (b)(1) will be funded with
$500,000,000 annually.
(2) Exception.--If a recommendation of the Commission is
deemed critical to the safe and effective operation of the
fleet and would require an amount of funding in excess of
$500,000,000 annually, the Commission shall include in the
report a description of the recommendation and the
approximate cost of implementing the recommendation.

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