Russ Feingold: “I rise today to tell a story that perhaps will intrigue and may be worthy of Tom Clancy's best novel. The story has a…”

“I rise today to tell a story that perhaps will intrigue and may be worthy of Tom Clancy's best novel. The story has a little bit of deception and what might be called good old-fashioned Government coverup. Maybe if we could get Alec Baldwin and Sharon Stone, we might even have a halfway decent movie to boot. But the unfortunate aspect of this story is that it is true and that the American people are the ones who I think are getting duped. Mr. President, the Navy's F/A-18 E/F "Super Hornet" program is foundering and the Defense Department is doing everything in its power to keep it afloat. Last April I requested a review of this program by the General Accounting Office. Just this week the GAO finished its work on this report. The report itself raises numerous questions regarding the aircraft and also the Navy's judgment in developing, producing, and testing the aircraft. Perhaps even more telling, though, is the Navy aircraft's testing team's efforts to keep this wasteful and unnecessary program alive.”