Political Quotes

“I think the point that we need to be able to have a large inventory of long-range aircraft is very, very essential in this debate. In 1962, we had 81 major overseas air bases that we could fly short-range aircraft out of. That 81 major overseas air base inventory is now down to 14. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Japanese diplomats were hedging on whether they would allow us to use Japanese air bases for a second Korea contingency. Now if we overlay that fact, the shrinking bases overseas, with the fact that we are going to spend $350 billion on short-range aircraft, and the administration zeroing B-2 has not a dime for long-range aircraft, it does not make any sense. We have got to have the ability to strike from the United States. And last, I would say to my colleague I thought the most dramatic speech in the debate, the lengthy debate we had in the authorization process, was when Sam Johnson, POW in Hanoi, looked out through the Hanoi Hilton and saw three B-52's in Operation Linebacker. That is when we struck the North Vietnamese in 11 days and brought them to the negotiating table; he watched three B-52's destroyed, blown up in midair. Those are the planes that the administration is going to rely on for the next 40 years. According to their plan, they are going to use aircraft that were vulnerable 30 years ago. So we have to ask the question what is the alternative. There is not an alternative to the B-2.”