Earlier this year, I supported a plan in the House to stop the Pentagon from disposing of certain air assets for the National Guard until a suitable replacement could be found. This includes the C-23  “Sherpa,” a cargo plane used extensively by the Oregon National Guard. The C-23’s are used here at home for wildfire fighting, and flew more than 47,000 hours in Iraq. The leadership of the Oregon National Guard told me, “simply put, we need these aircraft!”  

However, the Department of the Army has signaled it plans to go ahead with retiring the C-23 even without a suitable replacement. Last week, I joined 43 of my House and Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, to write to the Secretary of the Army to ask him to keep the C-23’s operational until a suitable replacement could be found. Click here to read the letter.

I’ll continue to work closely with the other members of the Oregon delegation and the Oregon National Guard to make sure our men and women in uniform have what they need to complete their missions at home and abroad.