Brian Jones: “Thank you very much. I was elected in 1995. Shortly after being sworn in, I was appointed to the Armed Services…”

“Thank you very much. I was elected in 1995. Shortly after being sworn in, I was appointed to the Armed Services Committee. In my district of eastern North Carolina, we have Camp Lejeune Marine Base, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, New River Marine Corps Air Station, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. At the time, I was familiar with the Marine Corps' desire and need to have the MV 22 Osprey. The Osprey is the plane that can go from a helicopter mode to a plane mode. I realized it was at that time very controversial. In fact, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney was opposed to the plane's ever becoming a reality, and as a Member of Congress I was very supportive. I was a new Member, obviously, and I was very much supportive. Madam Speaker, I am just going to hold up for a moment what the Osprey looks like, which is the plane I was just describing. It is an unusual-looking bird, but the Marine Corps believes it's what it definitely needs to complete its mission of serving this great Nation. On April 8 of the year 2000, a tragedy happened in Marana, Arizona. Colonel John Brow, who is to my left on this poster, was the pilot; and the copilot was Major Brooks Gruber. That night, 19 marines on a mission at Marana, Arizona, on Night Hawk 72, which was being piloted by Brow and copilot Gruber, flipped and crashed and burned, and 19 marines were killed. It was a very tragic, tragic happening, a very tragic night.…”