Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010

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Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I appreciate the difficulty we're in; but once again, to have air superiority requires two things: technical superiority, which the F-22 provides, as well as numerical superiority, which was why originally we were going to build 750. Up until last year, 381 was the minimum. Everyone from Air Combat Command, to Air National Guard, to every study says 243 is the number. There is no data that says 187 is the correct number, other than the Secretary. If the Russians are going to build a new generation and sell 200 to 300 at the same time we cut 250 legacy planes from our Air Force, at the same time we stop the F-22, at the same time the F-35 is not going to be available until 2014 at the earliest and still has problems, we may find ourselves on the wrong side of history if we do not stand up for the F-22. If we can spend $5 billion on ACORN but complain about $2 billion for 18,000 jobs to continue on a plane that we need, there is something in our prioritization that needs to be reviewed.

I appreciate the position of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, but here is the time we need to make a statement that the future is essential.

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