Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006. -- (House of Representatives - June 20, 2005)
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Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.
Mr. Chairman, I had not planned on speaking on the small business issue, but let me give an area in which my friends may be able to work and not just even in this bill, but in the Military Construction bill.
In San Diego, where we have a lot of military construction in bases, a lot of those packages are put together so large that only an out-of-town, out-of-State company can bid on those packages to build houses and military facilities. And we have tried over the years to try to break it down where they can break down those large packages so that smaller firms, the independent contractors, the little guys, can have a shot and an opportunity at building those. And I would work with the gentlewoman and the gentleman to make that happen because it is just not right to have an out-of-town company because the bid is so large to do that.
I would also like to bring up the bill itself. When one is in the military, they look at a couple of things. One, they look at a Congress that will give them the tools to fight, to train, and to win. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), it is the most bipartisan committee that we have, I think, in this House. The work that they have done to make sure that our troops are taken care of, even the ones coming back. The gentleman from Florida's (Mr. Young) wife, I do not think there is a day that she is not out there at one of the hospitals comforting the men or the women that came back that are wounded. But even more in this, for San Diego to shipbuilding, ship repair, Admiral Clark, who is CNO, has done his absolute best to make sure that it is balanced between the private and the public yards, between the east and the west coast.
There is an aircraft in here that is key. There is a system called the F-22. Right now, our fighters, our best fighters, which most people do not know, the F-14, the F-16, the F-18, if they go against the SU-30 or the SU-37, our American fighters lose over 90 percent of the time, both in the intercept and in the dog fight. The F-22 gives us the opportunity to put our pilots back into an airplane that can at least go neutral with the enemy. The Joint Strike Fighter is coming up; and in my personal opinion, we need to add to that to make sure that it is viable against whatever the threat is as well.
But I also want to thank the chairman and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young). San Diego or any port that has a lot of bases is very critical to homeland security. From the Coast Guard to the border patrol, to INS, to this bill, they have done a good job. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) has been, and I have been on this committee ever since I have been here, and I want to thank him for his personal attention, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) as well.
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