Jane Harman: “I rise in support of H.R. 1119, the National Defense Authorization Act of 1997. I support better defense forces prepared…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 1119, the National Defense Authorization Act of 1997. I support better defense forces prepared to fight the next war, not the last one. Unlike some colleagues, I think we can provide that for less money. We can do this if we make tough choices to fund weapons that make sense, and to cut weapons, forces, and infrastructure that do not make sense. I am proud to have been part of the bipartisan effort to draft this bill, and want to publicly commend the leadership of the gentleman from California [Mr. Dellums] and the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence], the staff, and my committee colleagues. This bill does much to restore the balance between the readiness of America's forces, the quality of life of America's service men and women, and the need to modernize America's forces to deal with future threats. It supports our commitments to our allies, especially through joint programs such as the tactical high energy laser program they have with Israel, programs which are mutually beneficial, reduce the time required to develop systems, and conserve resources.”