Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the House for their swift consideration of H.R. 5944. This important, bipartisan piece of legislation helps our National Guard and Air Force continue to evolve into the 21st Century as Remote Piloted Aircraft--or RPA's--become a modern tool in our efforts to defend our nation. RPA's provide key intelligence, reconnaissance, close air combat support, and have become one of the most reliable tools in our toolbox as we fight terrorism abroad. Years ago, we could not have envisioned the advances in technology that now allow our soldiers and pilots to fly missions from a control center thousands of miles from the battlefield. Yet our laws are unfortunately woefully outdated when it comes to the infrastructure that supports RPA's. Now is the time to update those laws and now is the time to update this critical infrastructure. This bill allows our National Guard and Air Force stations on civilian airfields that operate and participate in RPA missions to remain eligible for nominal leases. Doing so will save our military millions of dollars that can be spent elsewhere--on soldiers and equipment. Without this fix to federal law, estimates show that the National Guard would be forced to spend over $155 million each year just to keep their leases for bases they are on now. That would be an additional $155 million on top of the current costs.…”