Political Quotes

“I just want to add my thoughts on the B-1 fleet, the idea that we have been so short of money the last several years that we have been like a farmer who has three hay balers and he cannot afford to keep all three of them running, so he starts cannibalizing parts off one of them just so he can keep the other two in operation. That is not the way to run a military, but that is the way we have been forced to run part of our B-1 fleet. And so the idea was to save money, we would cut down that fleet, coming down from the nineties to the sixties, and basically do away with those operations of some 30-some aircraft. That would take out of operation one of our fine assets, our most recently built bombers beyond the few B-2s that we have built, something that has got long-range capability. In fact, those packages may be utilized in upcoming air operations. My own thoughts are that it is wise for us to spend the money that it takes for the spare parts and the operational support to keep the entire B-1 fleet in the air and operational. I think that makes sense. I think that is where the gentleman was going with his amendment.”