Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I very much regret that I rise in opposition to the amendment, knowing what a strong supporter of our national defense…”

“I very much regret that I rise in opposition to the amendment, knowing what a strong supporter of our national defense the gentleman from Nevada is and what a strong supporter he is of the National Guard, not only across the Nation, but in his own State. And I regret even more so since we have been talking about this for several weeks. I feel badly that I have to rise. The amendment, as the gentleman has stated, directs the Secretary of the Army to repurpose approximately one-half of the $225 million in the budget request that was requested and included for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle Upgrade Program. The amendment would direct the Army to revise the schedule for the Bradley Upgrade Program by accelerating the schedule for providing more modern Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the 1st Squadron of the 221st Armored Cavalry of the Nevada National Guard, which I am sure is most deserving because, as he said, they have the oldest of the oldest. Having said that, the schedule change would disrupt, as I am advised, a carefully synchronized plan for Abrams Tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle modernization and would cause production breaks at both manufacturing lines. The production break would also add significant startup costs to the Bradley Engineering Change Proposal 2. In other words, this amendment would throw out of balance the Army-wide armor modernization plans and drive up costs in order for one squadron of one State's Guard forces to receive more modern vehicles.…”