On the recordMay 17, 2012
Mr. Speaker, earlier today I was on this House floor commemorating the 70th anniversary of Ellsworth Air Force Base, which is in my great State of South Dakota. Our bomber fleet, the average age is 40 years old. Old dogs can learn new tricks, and our bombers are certainly doing that. They've been updated as much as they possibly can be, but they do eventually still get older. I will tell you that the B 1 bomber has performed admirably over the last three decades, and so has the B 2 and the B 52. But I will tell you, we must continue to upgrade and to maintain our bomber fleet. And I will tell you that prohibiting development of the new generation bomber for 10 years is shortsighted. It puts our national security at risk. I am going to urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.
