Chuck Schumer: “back in May, President Trump accepted the largest foreign gift to an American President in modern history--a $400…”

“back in May, President Trump accepted the largest foreign gift to an American President in modern history--a $400 million luxury Boeing 747 for use as Air Force One. It is outrageous that President Trump wants to fly around the world like a King while Americans are getting hammered by tariffs and paying more for healthcare, groceries, rent, and electricity. Some say that this plane was gifted and that it didn't cost the United States anything, but make no mistake about it, merely retrofitting this foreign-owned luxury jet to make it fully operational will cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. That is money that shouldn't be wasted, so, today, I have an amendment that will make sure not a penny of taxpayer dollars provided in this NDAA will go to any remodeling or maintenance of the President's foreign-owned Air Force One. It would prohibit funds authorized by this bill from being diverted for procurement, modification, restoration, or maintenance of an aircraft previously owned by a foreign government for the purpose of providing a Presidential airlift, and it would ensure the security and continued reliability of the Air Force One fleet. Republicans like to talk about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Spending even a penny of taxpayer dollars on retrofitting this luxury is about as wasteful--as wasteful--as it gets. I urge my Republican colleagues who care about spending taxpayer dollars responsibly to support this amendment. I yield the floor.…”