Senate Proceeding on Jul 23rd, 2009 :: 1:39:20 to 1:47:55
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1:39:20 to 1:47:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: George Voinovich

1:39:21 to 1:39:41( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: objection. mr. voinovich: madam president, i r in support of the competive sourcing for joint strike fighter engines. senator bayh's compromise continues support for competition for the joint strike fighter engine and reofficers funding for marin corps

1:39:42 to 1:40:06( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: helicopters and i know a number of my colleagues are concern about. from my understanding of what happened here is that in the defense committee, armed services committee, senator bh was concerned that the committee

1:40:07 to 1:40:27( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: did no for competion for the joint strike fighter. as a result of that, he moved to amend and took money away from the helicopters that senator lieberman is so and

1:40:28 to 1:40:50( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: senator to restore that money for those helicopters and at the same time those of us that are concerned about competion would like to see the money in there so we can continue competion for the joint strike fighter. as most of you know, i'm a

1:40:51 to 1:41:11( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: former governor and mayor and ardent champion of fiscal responsibility and total quality manageme in government. i'm not a johnny come lightly to this whole business of efficiency in tms of our defense budget. in 1990, the department of defense acquisition management since that time has been on the

1:41:12 to 1:41:32( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: g.a.o.'s high risk list. that's why in my capacity as chair and now ranking member of the subcommittee on oversight of government management i strongly supported reforms that the defense department that addressed and practices to support our men and women

1:41:33 to 1:41:54( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: this is not the f-22, this is about competion, fiscal responsibility, and good government management. when i came to the senate i remembered dwight dived eisenhower talked about the military industrial complex. senator he had it wrong, it's

1:41:55 to 1:42:16( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the military industrial congressional complex. if you watch how things are done on the floor of the united states senate a lot of it has to do with protecting the businesses in our state even though in some instances it's not in the best interest of our country. i am proud to say in spite of the fact

1:42:17 to 1:42:37( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: about 500 jobs, i voted to eliminate the f-22. and that's what we should see more of here but too often when we maybe our decisions here it has more to do with the contractors in our respective states and the jobs than it has to do with what's in the best interest of the country or what is fiscally responsible.

1:42:38 to 1:43:00( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: all of us should be concerned about it. i will leave at end of next next yearbut if we do not pay more attention to that we will be in trouble. in testimony before the house armed services committee this past may, the government accountability office stated that competition for the joint

1:43:01 to 1:43:22( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: strike fighter engine will yield long-term cost savings for taxpayers. does it mean it will cost more at the frontnd because you have more than one company competing? of course it will cost a little bit more but that testimony that g.a.o. gave cited an example of engine competion for the f-16.

1:43:23 to 1:43:43( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we had competion for the f-16 and this joint strike fighter is going to be the fighter for all of the federal agencies, with us, probably, for the next 25 or 30 years. the testimony said it reduced engine costs for the f-16 by over 20%. by putting a little money

1:43:44 to 1:44:04( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: upfront and having competion between the companies that wanted to do the engine we, over the contract, save 20% on that. and, madam president, i ask unanimous consent the g.a.o.'s full testimony be entered into the record. g.a.o.'s -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. voinovich: it's quite a

1:44:05 to 1:44:26( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: report a really interested in the subject, i asked them to read this or have it: joint strike fighter stron risk management essential entering the m phase. it is interesting the company originally chosen to do this has had cost beginning and the two companies

1:44:27 to 1:44:48( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: that were competing with them have been on budget and on time. for the record -- by the way, it's right here in this g.a.o. report. all you have to do is read the report and it is there. let me read the record "a competitive strategy has potential of exceeding that amount across the life cycling of the engine.

1:44:49 to 1:45:09( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: prior experience indicates it is reasonable to assume competition on the joint strike fighter engine program could yield savings. as a result we remain confident that competitive pressures could yield enough savings to offset the upfront cost of development over the joint strike fighter's program life."

1:45:10 to 1:45:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: let me repeat that again. if says "as a result, we remain confident that competitive pressures could yield enough savings." most of us understand competition. we have laws against, you know, antitrust, trying to make sure that one company doesn't get an advantage over another.

1:45:31 to 1:45:53( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and so i -- most of my colleagues understanbrings out the best and the lowest price. madam president, the g.a.o. goes ton address the competition on quality of products and incentives to perform. "our prior work along with you had stews by the department of defense and others indicate there are a number of

1:45:54 to 1:46:15( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: nonfinancial benefits that may result from competition, including better performance, increased reliability and improved contractor responsiveness." i just heard the senator from arizona speak eloquently about all of the overruns and expenses and everything else about it, and i -- if he were here, i'd say to him, hey, what we want to

1:46:16 to 1:46:36( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: do is have some competition on this engine so we get the best price, we get the best quality, we get the most responsiveness. now, madam president, we don't need the g.a.o. to confirm common sense we all know that, again, competition leads to lower cost, improved performance, increased reliability, and helps to keep

1:46:37 to 1:46:57( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: our contractors honest. without a competitive engine, over 90% of our fighter aircraft will be powered by one engine by 2030. think abou one company will have that contract. given giving an extraordinarily large contract without competition is reckless and irresponsible.

1:46:58 to 1:47:19( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: our government has an obligation to keep our contractors honest and the way to achieve that is through competion. i urge my colleagues to support the bayh amendment -- compromise amendment that preserves competitive sourcing for the joint strike fighter engine. we have an opportunity. i can understand the senator from connecticut was upset because we took money to

1:47:20 to 1:47:40( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: maintain the competion out of the helicopters. but senator -- what senator bayh has tried to do is come up with an amendment so we can restore the money, buy the helicopters, take care of tha same time maintain competion on the giant strike fighter. i urge -- on the joint strike fiemplet i urge my deletion really study thi

1:47:41 to 1:47:58( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: colleagues to really study this issue. and if you have a chance, you or your staff ought to look at this report by the goovment i think it substance yaitz the reasons why we're so ardent in terms of our support for competion for