Thomas Daschle: “the Senate will soon adopt a new national Defense authorization bill. I commend Senators Warner and Levin, the…”

“the Senate will soon adopt a new national Defense authorization bill. I commend Senators Warner and Levin, the distinguished managers of this bill, for their excellent work. They have worked well together on an important piece of legislation. This crucial legislation, the fiscal year 2004 National Defense authorization bill, provides funds for our troops, their training, and their equipment. Coming as it does on the heels of the end of the fighting in Iraq, it also provides the Senate with its first opportunity to act on some of the lessons we have learned in that conflict. Although the hostilities ended a short time ago and much more needs to be done in Iraq, I do not believe it is premature to begin drawing some conclusions about which forces and equipment performed well. Based on the Pentagon's assessments as well as media reports, it appears the B-1B aircraft and their crews performed magnificently. Just as in Afghanistan, we had few air bases in adjacent countries. Fortunately the B-1's long operating range overcame that problem. Just as in Afghanistan, our air tankers were straining to keep up the demand for midair refueling--but B-1s were part of the solution, with their ability to cover long distances and strike 24 targets on a single mission.”