Statement in Response to Today's Missile Attack on a U.S. Military Plane in Baghdad

Statement In Response To Today's Missile Attack On A U.S. Military Plane In Baghdad

Today's missile attack on the U.S. military C-130 transport plane landing at Baghdad International Airport reinforces the need to immediately move forward on getting anti-missile technology on American commercial aircraft.

For some time we have been aware that these weapons are in the hands of terrorists around the world- today, they stated loud and clear that they are willing to use them against American planes.

We were fortunate that this attack failed, and we were fortunate that the C-130 was equipped with countermeasures to defend against these missiles. But we need to provide the same protections to Americans traveling on commercial aircraft.
This is not the first time we have seen an incident like this, and I doubt it will be the last.

In the coming weeks, we will be debating the Homeland Security Bill. Within that bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $60 million for the research and development of anti-missile technology to protect commercial aircraft from this threat. I will press my colleagues in the Senate to approve at least that level of funding and continue to do everything in my power to diminish the threat of shoulder-fired missiles as quickly as possible.

Since last February, when I introduced legislation to equip all commercial aircraft with anti-missile technology, I have said that shoulder-fired missiles remain a serious threat to American planes both home and abroad. Today's incident confirms that threat.