[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3707-S3708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2730. Mr. LEE 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:

       Strike section 1034 and insert the following:

     SEC. 1034. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE BASING OF KC-46A AIRCRAFT 
                   OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) the Department of Defense is continuing its process of 
     permanently stationing KC-46A aircraft at installations in 
     the continental United States (CONUS) and forward-basing 
     outside the continental United States (CONUS);
       (2) air refueling capability is a critical component of 
     logistical capacity, and the Air National Guard fulfills the 
     majority of air refueling requirements;
       (3) section 144 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91) required the 
     Secretary of Defense to carry out a mobility capability and 
     requirements study that includes an assessment of the air 
     refueling tanker aircraft military requirement; and
       (4) upon completion of the study, it would beneficial to 
     know how the Air Force will support the requirements for 
     force structure and strategic laydown of aircraft necessary 
     to implement the study.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Secretary of the Air Force, as part of the strategic 
     basing process for KC-46A aircraft, should continue to place 
     emphasis on and consider the benefits derived from locations 
     outside the continental United States that--
       (1) support day-to-day air refueling operations, operations 
     plans of the combatant commands, and flexibility for 
     contingency operations, and have--
       (A) a strategic location that is essential to the defense 
     of the United States and its interests;
       (B) receivers for boom or probe-and-drogue training 
     opportunities with joint and international partners; and
       (C) sufficient airfield and airspace availability and 
     capacity to meet requirements; and
       (2) possess facilities that--
       (A) take full advantage of existing infrastructure to 
     provide--
       (i) runway, hangars, and aircrew and maintenance 
     operations; and
       (ii) sufficient fuels receipt, storage, and distribution 
     capacities for a 5-day peacetime operations stock; and
       (B) minimize overall construction and operational costs.
       (c) Briefing on Air Refueling Capabilities.--Not later than 
     March 1, 2019, the Secretary of the Air Force shall provide 
     in coordination with the Committee on Armed Services of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Armed Services 
     of the Senate a briefing for Congress on how the Air Force 
     will support the requirements for aerial refueling, 
     including--
       (1) the current and future laydown plans for air refueling 
     locations;
       (2) an overview of air refueling operations per air 
     refueling wing locations to include the number of sortie 
     requests, the number of sorties fulfilled, and the locations 
     or missions the sorties supported;
       (3) fully mission capable and aircraft availability rates 
     for all air refueling wings over the past 5 years;
       (4) an assessment of how the Air National Guard force 
     structure, across all States and territories, can be 
     leveraged to support current and emerging air refueling 
     requirements;
       (5) a description of the long-term plan to maintain 
     adequate refueling capability to meet current and emerging 
     requirements;
       (6) a review of manpower levels across the air refueling 
     force, an identification of current and projected skill set 
     gaps, and recommendations on how to address these gaps; and
       (7) an overview of how the Air Force will determine the 
     disposition of KC-135 aircraft as they are replaced by the 
     arrival of KC-46 aircraft.

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