[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 132 (Thursday, July 31, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S5103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3334. Mr. SCHIFF submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2026 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 D of title III, add the following:

     SEC. 334. REPORT ON AERIAL FIREFIGHTING SUPPORT.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of the Air Force, in consultation 
     with the Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 
     Chief of the National Guard Bureau, shall submit to the 
     congressional defense committees an unclassified report that 
     includes the following:
       (1) An assessment of the readiness of the Modular Airborne 
     Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) program across the fleet of the 
     active and reserve components of the Air Force to ensure that 
     aircraft and wildland firefighting assets are maximally 
     available to deploy to combat fires, which shall consider 
     current estimates of the prevalence of wildland forest fires 
     throughout the year and the increasing intensity, spread, and 
     damage caused by such fires.
       (2) Recommendations to ensure that procurement, 
     maintenance, and basing of aircraft and firefighting systems 
     and availability of trained personnel under such program are 
     scheduled and implemented with the goal to maximize 
     availability during periods of heightened wildfire threat.
       (3) As assessment of additional existing or available 
     assets, technology, or other capabilities within the Air 
     Force or the Space Force that present the potential for 
     improvement in identifying or responding to wildland forest 
     fires.
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