Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, throughout the country, there are remote areas where the men and women of our armed services prepare for war in order to protect the peace. Although these places are often overlooked, our investments in military test and training ranges are returned to the Nation many times over in the projection of American military supremacy around the globe protecting the homeland and preserving international order. In the Southeast, the Joint Gulf Range Complex facilities are for testing and training of supersonic and hypersonic weapons systems, including combat training and live-fire exercises of the frontline fighters like the F-22 and F-35. The 325th Fighter Wing and the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group at Tyndall Air Force Base, the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, and the Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field make extensive use of the Joint Gulf Range Complex. There is no comparable area in the United States near an established base with instrumentation infrastructure that can support advanced testing and joint training exercises like this. However, deployment of the instrumentation necessary to collect the data during the training on these fifth- and sixth-generation weapons systems is not in keeping with the U.S. Air Force needs. Instrumentation limitations have restricted the F-35 and F-22 training missions to the northernmost portion of the range.…”