John Spratt: “I began my last statement by saying I am a supporter of ballistic missile defense, and in years past when our side was…”

“I began my last statement by saying I am a supporter of ballistic missile defense, and in years past when our side was in the majority, on several occasions I came to the floor when my own committee had cut the request for national missile defense and offered amendments which plussed it back up, which prevailed in the House. Mr. Chairman, I supported ballistic missile defense and support it now on the ground, because I think it is an attainable system. But I also think, and the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations knows well, that we have a terribly tight defense budget. If we are going to put national defense, missile defense in place by the year 2003, we have got to keep it focused on a basic system that we can, indeed, deploy. Mr. Chairman, we are very close to being able to deploy a ground-based system which is cheaper than a laser-based system. BMDO put our cost estimates in March of 1995, which placed the cost of space-based lasers at $20 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion. Those were extrapolations. Nobody knows for sure, because it is a very, very embryonic technology. We have years to go. There is another problem with space-based, or any kind of space-based systems, and that is their inherent vulnerability.”