Earlier this month, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that he had joined the Air Force Caucus. He said in an Oct. 9 release, “There are a number of mission-related challenges facing Air Force installations in Mississippi and this group should give me another venue for representing those interests.” The Senator already was a member of the National Guard Caucus.
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on reforms, the program could reach an abrupt end.


