[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 146 (Monday, September 11, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5146-S5147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 920. Mr. McCAIN (for Mr. Rubio) submitted an amendment intended to 
be proposed by Mr. McCain 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. __. REPORT ON OPERATIONAL CAPACITY AT THE JOINT STRIKE 
                   FIGHTER (JSF) INITIAL JOINT TRAINING SITE AT 
                   EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE.

       (a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
     shall submit to Congress a plan for reaching full operational 
     capacity at the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Initial Joint 
     Training Site at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to provide 
     operational flexibility across the services and 
     interoperability with international partners.
       (b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) 
     shall include the following elements:
       (1) An assessment of the Department of Defense's compliance 
     with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision to 
     endorse the recommendation by the Secretary of Defense as 
     enacted into law to establish Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 
     as an Initial Joint Training Site that teaches entry-level 
     aviators and maintenance technicians how to safely operate 
     and maintain the

[[Page S5147]]

     new Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) (F-35) aircraft.
       (2) An analysis of the impact effected by the Navy and 
     Marine Corps drastically reducing their presence at Eglin Air 
     Force Base on the intended outcome of this decision to allow 
     the Interservice Training Review Organization process to 
     establish a Department of Defense baseline program in a 
     consolidated/joint school with curricula that permit services 
     latitude to preserve service-unique culture and a faculty and 
     staff that brings a ``Train as we fight: jointly'' national 
     perspective to the learning process.
                                 ______