Liz Saville Roberts: “In war, this fleet--I am talking about operational support airlift aircraft--is maintained and ready to provide the…”

“In war, this fleet--I am talking about operational support airlift aircraft--is maintained and ready to provide the commander quick transportation and to remote locations. The distinguished Senator from Iowa said--if I can find my notes-- that we are not at war. Well, we are not at war. Some people in Kosovo might challenge that. But we are involved in 141 nations. We have U.S. troops--men and women in uniform--in 141 nations. Fifty-five percent of all the nations in the world have U.S. troops stationed in those countries. The operational airlift capacity that is provided by these nine UC-35 aircraft is absolutely vital on those missions. What am I talking about? Joe Ralston is the new Supreme Allied Commander. He took the place of Wesley Clark. The first obligation, as he told me in a courtesy call, is to pay as many courtesy visits as he can to his counterparts in Russia. How is he going to get there? What happens if something breaks out in Kosovo? How does he get there? No, we are not at war, but in terms of our obligations and in terms of our military being stretched and stressed and hollow, it seems to me we ought to be very careful when we talk about operational support airlift aircraft.”