Barbara Boxer: “Not at all. As my friend knows, we don't even really know how the jets they have now are meeting our needs in a…”

“Not at all. As my friend knows, we don't even really know how the jets they have now are meeting our needs in a situation such as during wartime, which is the directive that they have to go by. The DOD has to rationalize and tell us, under their own directive, how their support meets the needs in wartime. Clearly in this report it is stated there is no rationale for what they have now, let alone what they have to have. Furthermore, we are saying that if they got these nine additional planes, which we don't even know if they need, under this language they would be able to buy the fanciest jets in the world, despite the fact that Senator Stevens doesn't think they will. The Senator of Alaska wasn't positive that the Air Force was going to lease the six Gulfstreams last year, yet they did. It is the same language.”