Senate Proceeding on Sep 29th, 2009 :: 3:11:50 to 3:19:00
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3:11:46 to 3:12:08( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: some have been vacant since his death. so i would ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the mo the the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi.

3:11:50 to 3:19:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Thad Cochran

3:12:09 to 3:12:29( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: mr. cochran: mr. president, the senate realizes the business today is the administration's fiscal year proposals, our committee on approp knows, in the regular order,

3:12:30 to 3:12:51( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: hearings, tooking advantage of advice from testimony and suggestions received by other senators on and off the committee about the provisions of this important legislation. it sets out, as the senate appreciates, the funding that would be permitted by the department of defense for the next fiscal so the subject we have today

3:12:52 to 3:13:12( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: before us is specifically an issue involving a provision in the administration's fisca 2010 defense budget proposal. the administration proposed several funding cuts for weapons programs that they deemed unneed. the senate appropriations

3:13:13 to 3:13:33( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: committee at his hearings and his deliberations reviewed each of the agreed with the recommendations set forth in the administration's budget subcommitteal. this bill does not -- budget submittal. this additional funding for f-22

3:13:34 to 3:13:55( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: aircraft, presidential alternate engine, the combat search and rescue helicopter, the kinetic energy interceptor and were proposed for funding by this administration. the c-17 aircraft is an area

3:13:56 to 3:14:17( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: where we did not the committee proposed $2.5 billion be included in the for ten additional aircraft. as we all know, the defense department is not i

3:14:18 to 3:14:42( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: congress when it recommended program terminations of the f-117 stealth fighter and the sr pb 22s -- and the v-22 osprey. the c-17 is the current backbone of our strategic capability, and it will be

3:14:43 to 3:15:03( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: decades to come. c-17's are being ute hraoeudz over the world -- utilized over the world at a faster pace than anticipated. while they comprise 60% of the air force's strategic air force fleet, they comprise strategic airlift missions.

3:15:04 to 3:15:24( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: this demand for c-17 lift capability is only going to grow as new airlift missionsmerge. already are rapid deployment of theater missile counterinsurgency operations, as well as growing airlift demands

3:15:25 to 3:15:46( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: for an expanding army and marine corps. failure to fund the c-17 will result in the united states shutting down its airlift manufacturing base at a when the demand for airlift is likely to grow. allowing the c-17 supply base

3:15:47 to 3:16:07( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: and production lin and then trying to reconstitute it would cost billions of dollars and take years to accomplish. the defense review and the upcoming mobility capability and requiremen reassessing our strategic

3:16:08 to 3:16:28( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: airlift requirements. until those requirements are reevaluated, the c-17's should be included in this bil the air force chief of staff has stated that he believes 205

3:16:29 to 3:16:49( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: c-17's and to meet strategic airlift requirements. and procuring more than the 205 c-17's already purchased should involve a like retirement of c-5-a aircraft. prior to the fiscal year of 2009 supplemental appropriations act

3:16:50 to 3:17:13( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: in june of this year, the air force was prohibited from retiring the older and capable c-5-a's. now that the department has a authority to retire these aircraft, we should replace a number of them with a highly capable aircraft in production today. the government

3:17:14 to 3:17:35( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: office has concluded and i quote -- "1 will take seven fully modernized c-5's of $132 million each to attain the equivalent capability achieved by buying one additional c-17 at

3:17:36 to 3:17:56( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: of $276 million. in other words, it would cos cost $924 million to seven c-5's to get the same capability of one c-17 costin costing $276 million. based on the

3:17:57 to 3:18:18( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: needs and the new authority to retire the aging and hard-to-maintain c-5 aircraft, we added the $2.5 billion to sustain production of the c-17 program for one additional year. this additional year will give the department of defense time

3:18:19 to 3:18:39( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: to complete their airlift reviews and preserve the option of adding airlift fleet. if funding for c-17's eliminated in this bill studies determine additional airlift is

3:18:40 to 3:19:02( Edit History Discussion )

Thad Cochran: there will be a significant cost in increases and delays in getting the aircraft to the fleet. at worse it will be cost prohibited to restart the line and our service men and women will be denied equipment needed to perform their missions. that, mr. totally unacceptable.