Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment, and I will later withdraw that amendment. The amendment I am offering today is a simple, commonsense amendment that fulfills a critical need for our Air National Guard, who stand watch while performing the 24/7 Aerospace Control Alert mission as diligently today as they have after the attacks on 9/11. This mission is carried out by several Guard units across the country, including the 180th Fighter Wing in Toledo, Ohio, whom I have the great honor to represent, and by the D.C. Air National Guard, who are less than 15 miles away from this Capitol. These servicemen and -women also serve in combat theater operations overseas when they are called upon and play a vital role in fighting foreign threats. This amendment would provide funding for an additional ARC-210 or equivalent radio in the Air National Guard's F-16s. These radios have a capability for secure line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight communication, providing the ability to securely communicate with ground forces and command and control. However, one radio in the aircraft does not allow for the simultaneous contact with them. Currently, Air National Guard F-16s only have one ARC-210 radio that works on an ultrahigh frequency band, and it is this band that most command and control and air traffic control agencies use.…”