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Mr. DICKS. I rise in strong opposition to the Markey amendment. I know my friend is trying to be humorous, but this is a very serious subject.

I was one of the leaders who worked to do the B 2 bomber. That took us between 15 and 20 years. Now, the reason we're starting is we've got to pull this technology together and try to do this for less money. And we need a long-range, modern, penetrating bomber with conventional weapons.

The nuclear weapon isn't the priority to me. It's the smart, conventional weapons that give us an enormous capability.

Let's vote ``no'' on the ill-conceived Markey amendment. And if he wants to look at something, tell him to look at land-based missiles.

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