Todd Tiahrt: “I appreciate the opportunity because I have kind of a unique perspective. I am probably the only Member in Congress, I…”

“I appreciate the opportunity because I have kind of a unique perspective. I am probably the only Member in Congress, I believe I am the only Member in Congress, that actually came out of aerospace, and I worked on some of the specifications for the B-2 so I know that the mission was not just to fly over Russia. It was to fly anywhere globally and attack any target that was protected by surface-to-air missiles. But the reason I support the B-2 is really twofold. No. 1, it is economical in terms of human risk. If my colleagues look at the initial strike in Desert Storm, there were in excess of a dozen targets. It took 75 aircraft, placing more than 140 servicemen at risk by those initial strikes, and yet that same group of tasks, those same targets, could have been accomplished by just two B-2's, placing only four pilots at risk. So in human terms of human risk, this is a very economical weapon to have in our inventory. And the second one is just the pure cost of maintaining the 75-plus aircraft, the procurement, the maintenance, the keeping them up. If we balance that with the cost of B-2's, it is more economical. So it may be costly, but yet it is economical, and vote no on the amendment.”