[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 13, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S5695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1031. Mr. TILLIS 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 end of subtitle C of title I, add the following:

     SEC. ___. CERTIFICATION OF THE ENHANCED MULTI MISSION 
                   PARACHUTE SYSTEM FOR THE UNITED STATES MARINE 
                   CORPS.

       (a) Certification.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall 
     submit to the congressional defense committees a 
     certification--
       (1) whether either the Marine Corps' currently fielded 
     multi mission parachute system or the Army's RA-1 parachute 
     system meet the Marine Corps requirements;
       (2) whether the Marine Corps' PARIS, Special Application 
     Parachute meets the Marine Corps requirement;
       (3) whether the testing plan for the enhanced multi mission 
     parachute system meets all regulatory requirements; and
       (4) whether the Department of the Navy has determined that 
     a high glide canopy is as safe and effective as the currently 
     fielded free fall parachute systems.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall submit 
     to the congressional defense committees a report that 
     includes--
       (1) an explanation for using the Parachute Industry 
     Association specification for a military parachute given that 
     sports parachutes are employed from relatively slow flying 
     civilian aircraft at altitudes below 10,000 feet;
       (2) a cost estimate for any new equipment and training that 
     the Marine Corps will require in order to employ a high glide 
     parachute;
       (3) justification of why the Department of the Navy is not 
     conducting any testing until first article testing; and
       (4) an assessment of the risks associated with high glide 
     canopies with a focus on how the Department of the Navy will 
     mitigate the risk for malfunctions experienced in other high 
     glide canopy programs.
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