Political Quotes

“I support the defense appropriations conference report, but I would like to briefly comment on one issue - strategic airlift. As we have learned in places like Kenya, Tanzania, Iraq, and Bosnia, the end of the Cold War has not brought stability to the world. That instability continually threatens our national security interests and has placed a high demand on our military assets. Primary among those assets is strategic airlift. Using our military requires getting troops and equipment and weapons to strategic locations. I am very concerned that we are taking some short-cuts in this bill that directly impact that vital national security capability. In particular, I am concerned that the Senate did not fully fund the President's request for C-5 avionics modernization. Instead, this Conference Report provides only $33.7 million of $47.9 million dollars necessary to increase C-5 safety and reliability. While $33.7 million is a lot of money, we need to do more. The $14.2 million cut delays installation of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) by a full-year.”