Tom Harkin: “These are eight right here. How much staff does a general have to take with him when he goes to a meeting? I would like…”

“These are eight right here. How much staff does a general have to take with him when he goes to a meeting? I would like to find that out. He said, ``The CINCs aren't [even] happy they have to live with a 12 passenger aircraft.'' Again I ask, how much staff do they need to take to these meetings they go to? So, again, the Senator from California and I have this amendment that says basically: We ought to put this lease aside. Let's take a look at this. Let's get a good report in. Do these really meet the warmaking needs of the Pentagon? Plus, I do not know where the facts lie on this one, but I will just say that, according to the New York Times, the lease will cost the taxpayers more than $475 million over 10 years. Purchasing the planes may prove cheaper. Some say purchasing is going to cost more; some say it will cost less. But we do know that for these aircraft, for the cost of the aircraft, plus the operation of them over the next 10 years, it is going to come in at somewhere----”