WASHINGTON, DC – Monday, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced an amendment to protect and restore funding for the 36^th Rescue Flight helicopters at Fairchild Air Force base. The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would authorize $4 million in funding to continue operation and maintenance of the helicopters. The President’s 2008 budget contained no funding for the Rescue Flight unit.

 

“The Rescue Flight helicopters at Fairchild train thousands of aircrews each year and provide critical search and rescue capabilities for Northwest communities and the nation,” said Cantwell. “These provisions will ensure the helicopters will remain at Fairchild so the men and women of the Air Force get the mission-critical training they need such as live rescue hoists, parachute drops, and combat rescues.”

 

Since the president zeroed out the program, Cantwell has been working to protect and preserve the unit at Fairchild. In February, Cantwell visited Fairchild to talk with the commanders about the importance of saving the program because the primary mission is to assist the Survival School in providing specific, hands-on helicopter training to aircrews. In April, she wrote to the Secretary of the United States Air Force Michael W. Wynne asking the Air Force to continue operation and maintenance of the 36^th Rescue Flight unit.  Now Cantwell is offering her amendment that states, “The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that no action is taken to deactivate the 36^th Rescue Flight or to reassign or reorganize any of the search and rescue capabilities of that unit.”

The National Defense Authorization Act authorizes more than $600 billion for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year beginning October 1. The Senate is expected to consider the authorization bill over the next two weeks.