[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4899-S4900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2554. Mr. PADILLA submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 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 F of title III, add the following:

     SEC. 358. IMPROVEMENTS TO FIREGUARD PROGRAM OF NATIONAL 
                   GUARD.

       (a) Interagency Partnership.--Section 510 of title 32, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``(a) In 
     General.--The Secretary''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(b) Contracts and Agreements.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense may enter into 
     a contract or cooperative agreement with a qualified 
     individual or entity to carry out the duties of the FireGuard 
     Program under subsection (a).
       ``(2) Qualified individual or entity defined.--In this 
     subsection, the term `qualified individual or entity' means--

[[Page S4900]]

       ``(A) any individual who possesses a requisite security 
     clearance for handling classified remote sensing data for the 
     purpose of wildfire detection and monitoring; or
       ``(B) any corporation, firm, partnership, company, 
     nonprofit, Federal agency or sub-agency, or State or local 
     government, with contractors or employees who possess a 
     requisite security clearance for handling such data.''.
       (b) Transition of FireGuard Program to Civilian or 
     Commercial Capabilities.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in 
     coordination with other entities pursuant to a memorandum of 
     understanding under paragraph (3), shall develop a plan to 
     transition the operation of the FireGuard Program under 
     section 510 of title 32, United States Code, to a Federal 
     agency or subagency (other than the Department of Defense or 
     within the Department of Defense) or a State or local 
     government with civilian or commercial capabilities.
       (2) Operation of civilian or commercial capabilities.--All 
     civilian or commercial capabilities under the FireGuard 
     Program pursuant to a transition conducted under paragraph 
     (1) shall be--
       (A) performed by an individual who possesses a requisite 
     security clearance for handling classified remote sensing 
     data for the purpose of wildfire detection and monitoring, 
     including pursuant to a contract with a corporation, firm, 
     partnership, company, nonprofit, Federal agency or sub-
     agency, or State or local government; and
       (B) coordinated with the United States Geological Survey.
       (3) Memorandum of understanding.--In developing the 
     transition plan required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
     may enter into a memorandum of understanding with one or more 
     Federal agencies or subagencies or State or local governments 
     to identify and leverage shared or external civilian 
     resources from Federal, State, local, and tribal entities.
       (c) Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in 
     consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit 
     to Congress a report that evaluates the effectiveness of the 
     FireGuard Program under section 510 of title 32, United 
     States Code, and opportunities to further engage civilian 
     capacity within the program.
       (2) Matters included.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
     include the following:
       (A) An assessment of the efficacy of the FireGuard Program 
     in detecting and monitoring wildfires, including the speed of 
     detection.
       (B) A plan to facilitate production and dissemination of 
     unclassified remote sensing information for use by civilian 
     organizations, including Federal, State, and local government 
     organizations, in carrying out wildfire detection activities.
       (C) A plan to contract with qualified civilian entities to 
     facilitate access to remote sensing information for the 
     purpose of wildfire detection and monitoring beginning 
     January 1, 2026.
                                 ______