September 26, 2025
Mr. Whitesides (for himself, Mr. Crank, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Garamendi, and Mr. Crow) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
To amend title 32, United States Code, to establish the FireGuard Program as a program of record of the National Guard.
Section 1. FireGuard Program: program of record; authorization
(a) In general
Section 510 of title 32, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by striking may
and inserting shall
;
(B)
by inserting of record
after carry out a program
; and
(C)
by striking Such a program
and inserting Such program
; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following new subsections:
(c) Annual briefing
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives the first of five annual briefings regarding the FireGuard Program. Such a briefing shall include, with regards to the year preceding the date of the briefing, the following elements:
(1)
The States (as such term is defined in section 901 of this title), counties, municipalities, and Tribal governments that received information under the FireGuard Program.
(2)
A comparative analysis of a map of—
(A)
each wildfire, initially provided to an entity described in paragraph (1) through the FireGuard Program; and
(B)
the perimeter of such wildfire after containment.
(3)
An analysis of the time between the detection of a fire via raw satellite data and alerts being sent to local responders.
(4)
A review of efforts undertaken to integrate emerging satellite and aerial surveillance technologies from qualified private, nonprofit, and public sector sources.
(d) Sunset
The FireGuard Program shall terminate on December 31, 2031.
(b) Clerical amendment
The heading of such section is amended by striking Authorization for
.