Russ Feingold: “today I am introducing the Osprey Safety, Performance, and Reliability Evaluation Act of 2001. This legislation would…”

“today I am introducing the Osprey Safety, Performance, and Reliability Evaluation Act of 2001. This legislation would delay the procurement of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft for one year, and would require reports from the Secretary of the Navy and the Department of Defense's Inspector General regarding the program. The Osprey is an experimental tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but flies like an airplane by tilting its wing-mounted rotors forward to serve as propellers. The premise for the aircraft is to combine the operational flexibility of a helicopter with the speed, range, and efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft. The Marines, Air Force, and Navy all want to purchase versions of this aircraft. I want to be very clear. This bill does not terminate the V-22 program. It does not affect the Marine Corps' ability to continue the research, development, testing, and evaluation of this aircraft. This bill delays the start of full-rate procurement of the MV-22 Osprey, the Marines' version of this aircraft, for one year.”