David Obey: “this country is going to spend $85 billion to build a new generation of fighter aircraft, the F-22, and we are told that…”

“this country is going to spend $85 billion to build a new generation of fighter aircraft, the F-22, and we are told that the reason we must do that is because we have sold so many of our F-16's around the world, and so many of our F-15's, that we now have to stay ahead of the capability of other countries. So we are told that in order to do that we have to make this large expenditure. Mr. Chairman, all this amendment says is that if we are going to go ahead and spend that $85 billion, that we ought not to make the same mistake we made in the past. That is why this amendment says that no F-22's can be sold abroad. The reason I am urging that we adopt this amendment is that the contractor, Lockheed, has already been quoted several times saying that they fully plan to market the F-22 abroad, and the Air Force is also indicating they are looking at foreign sales as a means of reducing the overall cost of the program. Everything that we know about this plane tells us it is going to be a technological marvel. I would like to know why on Earth we would even consider selling this plane abroad if the purpose of building it in the first place is to react to the fact that we have sold abroad so many sophisticated fighters in the past that we now have to build this new plane in order to stay ahead of the people we have sold it to. Very simply, all I am saying is that we have to make a choice.…”