Political Quotes

“Additionally, the Department of Defense compliance review group has previously reviewed the SBL readiness demonstrator and deemed such a program compliant with the ABM Treaty. So the Air Force and BMDO have signed a memorandum of agreement to proceed with the SBL program. The Air Force and BMDO endorsed the development of an SBL readiness demonstrator and have done the preliminary work on how to proceed with such a program, and the Air Force has said if such a program proceeds, they will establish this program management office at the Philips lab at Kirkland Air Force base in New Mexico. The bottom line is, a readiness demonstrator is the next logical step for SBL. It doesn't commit the United States to deployment or development of an operational SBL system, but it preserves the option for that decision after the year 2005. If the Bingaman amendment were to be agreed to, this option would be precluded and we would be left with a space-based laser program lacking focus and lacking any logical direction. It is one of those situations where if we do take the focus and take the direction away, it makes all the money we have spent in the past, all the $1 billion, wasted, down the drain, when we are now on the threshold of being able to see it all come to fruition and see the space-based laser program take its proper place in the defense arsenal of the United States.”