Steve Cohen: “I was just going to ask, my understanding was that the President went to California and said we needed more C-17's, not…”

“I was just going to ask, my understanding was that the President went to California and said we needed more C-17's, not fewer. So we have people going out to the local districts, or States which are politically populous, and appealing for votes in the fall, saying, ``Gee, how can we help you? Can we keep that base open? We are not going to shut down a facility in Texas or California, we are going to keep it open,'' in order to purchase votes. I think the time has come for us to listen to what the service Chiefs and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are saying, I say to my colleague from Alaska: They need more not less. The President submitted a budget, and that budget has defined the national security needs. What the military people are really saying is, ``We're at the edge. We have to start ramping up on procurement. We should have done it 2 years ago. We don't need it next year; we need it now.'' I support what the Senator from Alaska is saying. We cannot afford to continue to do this. When my colleague from Massachusetts says what happens when we are spending more money than our friends from Germany, Japan, Italy, or all of our allies, when the 911 call goes out, are we going to send the British fleet to Taiwan? Are we going to send the Italian fleet or the German fleet? The fact of the matter is, we are the superpower.…”