12 2 STA T .4597PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 417 —O CT. 14 , 200 8to t heac ce s so funm anne d ae ri a l s y stems of the D e p artment of Defense to the N ational A irspace S ystem .(8)J oint mana g ement attention at the highest le v els of the Department of Defense and the F ederal Aviation Adminis - tration may also b ere q uired on other important issues , such as type ratings for aerial refueling aircraft. (b) S ENS E OFC ON GR ESS. —I t is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should see k an agreement w ith the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to j ointly establish within the Department of Defense and the Federal Avia- tion Administration a joint Department of Defense – Federal Aviation Administration e x ecutive committee on conflict and dispute resolu- tion which would— ( 1 ) act as a focal point for the resolution of disputes on matters of policy and procedures between the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration with respect to— (A) airspace, aircraft certifications, and aircrew training
and ( B ) other issues brought before the joint executive com- mittee by the Department of Defense or the Department of T ransportation; ( 2 ) identify solutions to the range of technical, procedural, and policy concerns arising in the disputes described in para- graph (1); and ( 3 ) identify solutions to the range of technical, procedural, and policy concerns arising in the integration of Department of Defense unmanned aerial systems into the National Airspace System in order to achieve the increasing, and ultimately rou- tine, access of such systems into the National Airspace System. SEC.1037 .SE N SE OF CON GR ESSONS AL EOFNE W O UT S IZ E CARGO , STRATEGIC AIRLIFT AIRCRAFT FOR CI V ILIAN USE. (a) F I N D INGS.—Congress makes the following findings
(1) The 2 0 0 6Q uadrennial Defense R eview and the 200 5M obility Capability Study determined that the U nited States Transportation Command requires a force of 2 9 2 to 383 organic strategic airlift aircraft, augmented by procurement of airlift service from commercial air carriers participating in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, to meet the demands of the National Military Strategy. Congress has authori z ed and appropriated funds for 316 strategic airlift aircraft. (2) The commander of the United States Transportation Command has testified to Congress that it is essential to safe- guard the capabilities and capacity of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to meet wartime surge demands in connection with major combat operations and that procurement by the Air Force of excess organic strategic airlift aircraft could be harmful to the health of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. (3) The C–1 7 aircraft is used extensively by the Air Mobility Command in the G lobal W ar on Terror. P roduction of the C–17 aircraft is scheduled to cease in August, 2010. ( 4 ) The Federal Aviation Administration has informed Con- gress that no fewer than six commercial operators have expressed interest in operating a commercial variant of the C–17 aircraft. Commercial sale of the new C–17 aircraft would require that the Department of Defense determine that it is
�
