Lynn C. Woolsey: “There are few things more important for us to deal with than the health and safety of our men and women in uniform. For…”

“There are few things more important for us to deal with than the health and safety of our men and women in uniform. For everything they do, for all the courage they've shown and the sacrifices that they've made, we must be absolutely vigilant about protecting them from unnecessary risk. That's why I was troubled to hear news reports about several of our most highly trained and skilled Air Force pilots experiencing loss of oxygen while in the cockpit of the F 22 aircraft. We're talking about blacking out, losing control of the plane, and suffering memory loss. In fact, 18 percent of those who flew the F 22 reported an incident similar to this. In fact, one family blames this mysterious affliction for a crash that killed their loved one. We have some of our most fearless pilots afraid and even refusing to take the controls of the F 22. Two pilots went so far as to appear on shows like ``60 Minutes'' without permission from their superiors so that they could expose the problem. In response, Madam Speaker, I prepared an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House will debate today. My amendment would cut off funding for the F 22 until the Pentagon inspector general completes an investigation on these malfunctions and finds a solution to protect the safety of our pilots.…”