Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this amendment deals with a profoundly important issue that will be before the House of Representatives and this Nation for the next three decades at least. This is an amendment that deals with the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35, and the dual capability of that fighter, basically meaning how to retrofit or make that fighter capable of handling the B-61 nuclear weapon. This is a weapon that is principally designed for our allies, to be used in Europe. It is a weapon that is now in the process of being life-extended at a cost of several billion dollars over the next decade. The question is, Do we need to revamp the F-35 in such a way as to be able to handle both conventional as well as nuclear weapons? This is the question before us. It is a question that involves our allies, and it is a very, very expensive issue that we must deal with. If we just continue on, we will spend billions upon billions of dollars on a system that may or may not be desired by our allies around the world. We are just pushing our way forward here without really considering all of the issues involved. This amendment that I brought forth on the floor today is really the wake up to this larger issue and the extraordinary expense and the ramifications that it has with not only our allies but with potential adversaries around the world. What I really would like to do is to expand upon a study that has already been put into this legislation, a study that Mr.…”