[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 3, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S3716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1576. Mrs. BOXER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense and for military construction, 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 III, add the following:

     SEC. 355. USE OF AIR NATIONAL GUARD AND AIR FORCE RESERVE FOR 
                   INITIAL AIRBORNE RESPONSE TO FIGHTING 
                   WILDFIRES.

       (a) Interagency Agreements.--Subject to subsection (b), in 
     order to prevent the loss of life and reduce property losses 
     from wildfires, section 1535(a)(4) of title 31, United States 
     Code, shall not apply to limit the use of interagency 
     agreements with the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve 
     to procure the services of a unit of the Air National Guard 
     or Air Force Reserve to conduct Defense Support to Civil 
     Authority (DSCA) missions utilizing military fixed-wing 
     aerial firefighting aircraft, including Modular Airborne Fire 
     Fighting System (MAFFS) units, in the airborne response to 
     fighting wildfires.
       (b) Limitations.--Section 1535(a)(4) of title 31, United 
     States Code, shall not apply to interagency agreements 
     described in subsection (a) only when a requesting agency 
     determines that--
       (1) privately contracted fixed-wing aerial firefighting 
     aircraft are unavailable;
       (2) there is an unfilled request for fixed-wing aerial 
     firefighting aircraft, including MAFFS units, to perform an 
     initial airborne response; or
       (3) fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft, including 
     MAFFS units, are needed to supplement privately contracted 
     fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft.
       (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
     interpreted as diminishing the role of contractor owned and 
     operated fixed-wing aircraft as the primary source of aerial 
     firefighting assets for the Federal wildland firefighting 
     agencies.
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