Norman D. Dicks: “the other point is the gentleman made a very major point here. We have spent all this money to get us where we are, and…”

“the other point is the gentleman made a very major point here. We have spent all this money to get us where we are, and what are we talking about, by the Air Force's own numbers, $15.3 billion, to build 20 more of these airplanes. That is a much lower price than we purchased the first 20. It is about a half to a third of the cost. The gentleman and I have been around quite a while, and at some point, they will say, ``Oh my gosh, we made a terrible mistake, we should have built this.'' Then we will have to reopen the line. The Air Force tells me it is $6 billion to $10 billion to get the line up if we wait 5 years. For that, we get nothing. It seems to me while the line is open out in California, we should continue at a low rate to purchase these bombers. It will keep the industrial base alive, keep it there in place, and it will allow us to have the most modern technology for our young men and women to fly and use if we have another major problem. The world is not any safer. I think the world was safer during the cold war, if you want to know the truth. Now you have all kinds of problems around the world. It is a combination of saving money in the weapons that are used, the JDAM's weapon for $20,000 apiece versus the standoff cruise missile for $1.2 million apiece. They cannot have any capability against mobile targets. That is the other problem, Mr. Speaker, with saying we will take the B-52's and the B-1's, and load them with standoff cruise missiles.”