Kay Bailey Hutchison: “on April 9, 1997, an important milestone will be reached when the Lockheed Martin Corp. rolls out the F-22 in Marietta…”

“on April 9, 1997, an important milestone will be reached when the Lockheed Martin Corp. rolls out the F-22 in Marietta, GA. The F-22 is a powerful new aircraft that will ensure complete and total air dominance for the United States in the 21st century. How do you measure success in air superiority. The best measure I know is reflected in the fact that no U.S. soldier has been killed by an enemy aircraft in over 40 years. And that is why the F-22 is critical at this time, for the F-22 ensures that impressive record of protecting our forces continues unbroken. There are some who fail to understand that the threat to our air forces is growing and that the world remains dangerous despite the end of the cold war. Throughout the world today there are a host of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles readily available on the open market to any nation with the money available to buy them. At the same time, a new generation of tactical fighter is also being produced in Russia and elsewhere which can out perform and defeat our current air superiority fighter, the F-15C. All of these pose significant threats to our ability to maintain air superiority. The F-22 will ensure that America maintains not just air superiority but air dominance. And as the former Secretary of Defense William Perry once said ``everything else we do depends on air dominance. Mr. President, I am pleased to note that the rollout on April 9 will mark the beginning of a new era for Air Force aviation.”