Kent Conrad: “I was pleased to join my co-chair of the Senate Tanker Caucus, the senior Senator from Utah, in introducing amendment…”

“I was pleased to join my co-chair of the Senate Tanker Caucus, the senior Senator from Utah, in introducing amendment No. 2895. And I am very glad that the distinguished ranking member of the Armed Services Committee chose to join with our caucus in preparing a compromise amendment, No. 3104, that makes clear how crucial recapitalizing our tanker fleet is to our national security. I thank Senator McCain and Senator Levin for their leadership on this issue and their willingness to accept this amendment. In October of last year, the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force made a very important announcement. They declared that their top acquisition priority for the future is the replacement of our Nation's aerial refueling tanker fleet. This program could cost about $13 billion over the next 5 years, and perhaps $100 billion over the next three decades. The senior Senator from Utah and I joined forces to form a caucus in support of this vital objective. We believe that updating our aerial tanker fleet is crucial if we are to continue to be able to project American military power around the globe. The U.S. national security strategy depends on a robust air refueling capability, as do our coalition partners. No other nation in the world has a comparable capability. The U.S. advantage in tankers is at the center of almost all the other strategic capabilities of our Air Force.”