On the recordJune 15, 2016
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure to stand with the chairman of the committee that has oversight of this important, critical program. The bottom line is that this amendment would unilaterally disarm our country by undermining the development of this new cruise missile, which would, in turn, weaken the airborne leg of our nuclear triad, which we depend on for a deterrent. You can be darn sure that the Russians and Chinese are not sitting back. For the record, our committee has taken fiscally prudent minor reductions in the Standoff Weapon program when justified. This cut, which is nearly 80 percent of the funds requested, would be crippling, which, of course, is the apparent intention of this amendment. We don't support that. The Air Force remains on track to issue a request for a proposal to industry for the technology maturation and risk reduction phase of the program before the end of the fiscal year, with a contract award to be made in fiscal year 2017. This amendment, if adopted, would radically slash funding and bring this effort to a halt. Therefore, I join with the chairman in urging strong opposition to this amendment.
