Text of Senate Amendment 6461

On 2026-06-24, Senator John W. Hickenlooper (D-CO) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6461" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6461

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3586] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6461. Mr. HICKENLOOPER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 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 H of title V, add the following: SEC. 587. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO ELIMINATE THE 70TH FLYING TRAINING SQUADRON OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY. (a) Limitation.--The Secretary of the Air Force may not perform a covered action regarding the 70th Flying Training Squadron of the USAFA until 180 days after the day that the Secretary submits to the congressional defense committees a report described in subsection (b). (b) Report.--A report described in this subsection is a report on covered action regarding the 70th Flying Training Squadron of USAFA. Such a report includes the following elements: (1) An assessment of the effect of such covered action on the capacity to train cadets at USAFA, including the number of cadets so affected annually. (2) A plan to maintain capacity described in paragraph (1) provided by the 70th Flying Training Squadron, including the retention of advanced mission sets, simulator training, and evaluator pilot functions. (3) An analysis of alternatives to such covered action, including the reallocation of chronically vacant billets within Air Force Reserve Command. (4) An assessment of the cost differential between continued operation of the 70th Flying Training Squadron, replacement of its functions by active-duty personnel, and replacement of its functions by contracted support. (5) A plan to preserve the institutional knowledge and instructional capacity currently provided by aviators assigned to the 70th Flying Training Squadron or equivalent capability. (6) A plan to sustain the 70th Flying Training Squadron until the date specified in subsection (a). (c) Definitions.--In this section: (1) The term ``covered action'' includes eliminating, deactivating, defunding, reducing the number of personnel, and reducing the number of aircraft. (2) The term ``USAFA'' means the United States Air Force Academy. ______