[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 127 (Thursday, July 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4530-S4531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 542. Mr. TILLIS (for himself and Mr. Nelson) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 2810, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 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 appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR THE 
                   ENHANCED MULTI MISSION PARACHUTE SYSTEM.

       (a) Limitation.--None of the funds authorized to be 
     appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for the 
     Department of Defense for fiscal year 2018 for the Enhanced 
     Multi Mission Parachute System may be used to enter into or 
     prepare to enter into a contract for the procurement of the 
     Enhanced Multi Mission Parachute System unless the Secretary 
     of the Navy submits to the congressional defense committees 
     the certification described in subsection (b) and the report 
     described in subsection (c).
       (b) Certification.--The certification referred to in 
     subsection (a) is a certification by the Secretary of the 
     Navy that--
       (1) neither the Marine Corps' currently field enhanced 
     multi mission parachute system nor the Army's RA-1 parachute 
     system meet the Marine Corps requirements;
       (2) that the Marine Corps' PARIS, Special Application 
     Parachute does not meet the Marine Corps requirement;
       (3) the testing plan for the enhanced multi mission 
     parachute system meets all regulatory requirements; and
       (4) the Department of the Navy has performed the analysis 
     and determined that a

[[Page S4531]]

     high glide canopy is not more prone to malfunctions than the 
     currently fielded free fall parachute systems.
       (c) Report.--The report referred to in subsection (a) is a 
     report that includes--
       (1) an explanation of the rationale for using the Parachute 
     Industry Association specification normally used for sports 
     parachutes that are employed from relatively slow flying 
     civilian aircraft at altitudes below 10,000 feet for a 
     military parachute;
       (2) an inventory and cost estimate for any new equipment 
     and training that the Marine Corps will have to be acquire in 
     order to employ a high glide parachute;
       (3) an explanation of why the Department of the Navy is 
     conducting a paper down select and not conducting any testing 
     until first article testing; and
       (4) a discussion of the risk assessment for high glide 
     canopies, and specifically how the Department of the Navy is 
     mitigating the risk for malfunctions experienced in other 
     high glide canopy programs.
                                 ______