Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am pleased to offer this bipartisan amendment today with my friends, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Lamborn, and Mr. Nugent. The Navy's electromagnetic rail gun is a technology described as revolutionary and a potential multimission game changer for long-range, land-attack, ballistic, and cruise missile defense, and antisurface warfare. Mr. Chairman, the best mix of air and missile defenses will consist of complementary kinetic and nonkinetic weapons systems, enhancing our capability to defeat larger salvos of air and missile threats. Rail guns have the capability to fire at higher velocities, which means longer ranges. Under certain conditions, a 32-megajoule gun will be able to launch projectiles more than 100 nautical miles. And it is more cost-effective. Whereas low-cost kinetic defenses run around $400,000 each, surface-to-air interceptors and guided hypervelocity projectiles can be as low as $25,000 to $40,000 each. My amendment also provides for the mount for the rail gun, a necessity that was promised to the Navy, appropriated but ultimately never delivered. So this bipartisan amendment tracks the funds authorized in the FY17 NDAA and continues to provide imperative assistance to our Navy as they pursue high-tech, game-changing weapons systems across the fleet.…”