Signed into law
Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025
This act reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell its excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are acceptable for commercial sale for wildfire suppression purposes. Such authority begins June 12, 2025, and ends October 1, 2035.
- Measure
- S. 160 · 119th Congress
- Latest action
- June 12, 2025
- Policy changes
- 2
- Source
- CRS summary (Public Law) · Congress.gov
Became Public Law No: 119-18.
Read it yourself · The summaries below are the Congressional Research Service’s. Under each one you can open the bill’s own wording, or read the full text (enrolled (sent to the President)).
What it would cost
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Dollar amounts in the bill itself
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Who wrote it
Sponsor
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT)Joined by 8 cosponsors, 1 of them from the day it was introduced. Introduced January 21, 2025.
All 8 cosponsors
- Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) · original
- Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
- Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
- Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
- Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
- Sen. James E. Risch (R-ID)
- Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA)
- Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA)
How Congress voted
No recorded vote: this bill moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, so there is no record of how individual members voted.
Your delegation
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In their own words
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What it changes — and your vote
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Provision 1
Provides that such aircraft may be used to deliver water by air in order to suppress wildfire (the previous authority only provided for the delivery of fire retardant).
›Read the bill’s wording · Sec. 2(closest match)
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Provision 2
Removes the previous limitation on providing international wildfire suppression assistance with such purchased aircraft.
›Read the bill’s wording · Sec. 2(closest match)
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