Senate Proceeding 09-30-09 on Sep 30th, 2009 :: 1:09:25 to 1:24:10
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1:09:17 to 1:09:38( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator f a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent quorum call and a consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the

1:09:25 to 1:24:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Dianne Feinstein

1:09:39 to 1:09:59( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: floor essentially to oppose the mccain amendment, which would stop production of the c-17 globe master the funding approved by the appropriations committee to maintain an important national asset, i believe, in the c-17 program. without the inclusion of this

1:10:00 to 1:10:20( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: funding, the production line would begin to shut down this year and the last plane would roll off the opposed to mid 2012 if these additional 10 planes, which in the defense bill are, in fact, funded.

1:10:21 to 1:10:41( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: i believe the funding is and the -- i and the risk of losing the production line without fulfilling the c-17 need real. the concern here is timing. if this amendment passes, suppliers will be notified within months that their contracts have been terminated. it will become virtually impossible to restart production.

1:10:42 to 1:11:03( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: by then will be too into account the impending qaw defense review and a mobility capability requirement study which will assess fact, we truly have enough c-17's in the fleet. it's my view that failure to fund this aircraft would be a

1:11:04 to 1:11:24( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: tremendous blow to future readiness of the milit now, why do i say tha the c-17 has been essential to our combat operations in iraq and afghanistan as well as humanitarian missions worldwide. it is the most flexibl and versatile transports in the

1:11:25 to 1:11:47( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: united states military today. and the only one capable of flying troops and cargo d from our bases here to the frontlines of afghanistan and iraq. even more important is w c-17 carries on the way back from

1:11:51 to 1:12:11( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: it's a aeromedical supplies base. the c-17 contributes to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief missions worldwide. it has become a welcomed sight to the victims of the t in asia and the -- to victims of the hurricanes along the gulf coast.

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

Dianne Feinstein: but that enough to justify it. chief of staff, general mike moseley has said, the c-17 is worth its weight in with so many capabilities and so many complimentary things said about it, it's no

1:12:33 to 1:12:53( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: the air force has been flying the wings off the c-17. to make this point, let me read from the house committee report for the 2010 defense appropriations bill. quote -- "the c-17 is the work house of the theater, flying 15% of all sorties for the u.s.

1:12:54 to 1:13:14( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: transportation command over the last 24 months. while the aircraft is designed to 30 years, over the last 10 years the c-17 fleet has 1,250 hours per aircraft with

1:13:15 to 1:13:36( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: some aircraft flying in excess of 2,400 hours in a single year. that's over 200% more. this heavy usage is reducing the expected service life of the aircraft." so what does this mean? it means being utilized much more than anticipated.

1:13:37 to 1:13:57( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: it carrying more of its workload thanxpected. and it means that the c-17's flown today may not be available for as long as we thought they would. this brings us to the issue. if not the c-17, what are the

1:13:58 to 1:14:19( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: other options a complement to a decades-old military transport, the c-5. the oldest average of9 years old and will require literally dollars in engine and avionics upgrades to keep flying.

1:14:20 to 1:14:42( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: we don't yet know the exact cost. but as with many modernization programs, it will likely only go up. the g.a.o. clearly stated last year the d.o.d. would need to fully obtain the equivalent capability

1:14:43 to 1:15:05( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: achieved from acquiring one c-17, and the cost would be three times more. so you need to c-5' capa times the cost. this makes no sense to me.

1:15:06 to 1:15:28( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: the c-5a has been unreliable with a readiness rate barely over 50%. and the air force has been asking for years for authorization to retire some of the as those aircraft are retired, the cover the gap left behind. taxpayer dollars better spent?

1:15:29 to 1:15:49( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: are they better spent maintaing and upgrading a 40-year-old unreliable aircraft at three times the cost or are they better spent adding c-17's to an already overtaxed fleet? i think the answer is clear. those in con

1:15:50 to 1:16:13( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: for shutting down the line, i believe are doing so prematurely. later this year a phoeblts capabilities requirement study will be released that will address the future airlift needs of the military. mr. president, one thing we know that this country lacks is strategic lift.

1:16:14 to 1:16:34( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: and by that i mean to rapidly move troops and equipment to wherever those troops and equipment are needed. the staging of a military operation takes time because we lack strategic lift. the department of defense is also actively

1:16:35 to 1:16:56( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: next quadrennial defense review which will take a comprehensive picture of what tools our forces will previous studies that have analyzed our airlift needs didn't take increases in the number of army and marine corps personnel.

1:16:57 to 1:17:22( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: that's a point, we have more troops that need to be including 30,000 additional personnel authorized by the senate during consideration of the defense authorization bill in july. these studies also did not take into account new combat vehicle programs for the army as well as

1:17:24 to 1:17:47( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: the needs of command. all of this has to be figured into this new mobility review. in fact, the g.a.o. has expressed concern by the calculations used by the defense department's studies and recognized significant changes for the mobility capability study. the g.a.o. also found that because the department of

1:17:48 to 1:18:09( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: defense did not identify specific airlift requirements in its previous mobility capability study, it could not determine how the d.o.d. the current number of c-5's and c-17's was adequate. now that's the basis on which

1:18:10 to 1:18:30( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: the pentagon has weighed in, saying we'll do with what we have in essence, and the g.a.o. is saying that no specific airlift requirements in the previous study were even considered on which you could base a recommendation like leave it as it is. to me, this indicates that we're

1:18:31 to 1:18:51( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: not in a position to shut down the last strategic airlift production line in the i understand that this has been identified as a congressional jobs program, and tent i disagree with that view. there are many of us that have followed the c-17 program for

1:18:52 to 1:19:13( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: years, and we know what a mistake it would be to end production of this aircraft prematurely. the distinguished chairman of the defense appropriations committee, senator inouye, agrees, and therefore the committee has added these ten planes, $2.5 billion in the bill

1:19:14 to 1:19:37( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: for these ten additional c-17's. in his introductory statement for this other times the defense departme determine a program termination. and he listed the f-117 stealth fighter, which was a great tool

1:19:38 to 1:19:58( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: in fighting in of the marine corps and central command, which the department proposed view that the united states would never be very involved in countries like afghanistan. it's clear that the department of defense doesn't always get it

1:19:59 to 1:20:21( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: right, and already we know we may be faced with a white house request to add another 40,000 troops that will need to be airlifted to afghanist,. whether that happens or not, i don't know. but i do know we have a remaing 8,000 to complement the 60,000 that are already

1:20:22 to 1:20:44( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: there that need to get to afghanistan before the end of the year. earlier this year the administration fought hard against programs they felt weren't this included aircraft like the f-22, which it was argued wasn't being used in iraq and afghanistan. instead they advocated for systems that support the current

1:20:45 to 1:21:06( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: missions of the military, and that's what the c-17 does. the c-17 is being used of in support of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. it is the only aircraft capable

1:21:07 to 1:21:28( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: of flying many of the missions the air force is asked to fly. so i think kind of system we need more of. it takes troops, equipment directly to the front lines where it can land on unpaved runways and half the length of those needed

1:21:29 to 1:21:50( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: to land a c-5. i think that's because it means you get closer with the troops, the supplies, the equipment to where you need to go. and finally, from a business perspective, keeping the line open preserves t option for several other countries to

1:21:51 to 1:22:11( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: purchase c-17's of their own. other governments are actively pursuing con c-17's, and the opportunity to maintain good-paying u.s. jobs would be lost if the line is shut down. now, as i say, it's one

1:22:12 to 1:22:34( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: it essentially kee the line open for additional year over when it would shut down otherwise. so when i think to where our military investment should agree it should go toward ensung that we have the capability to bring our troops and supplies to where they m

1:22:35 to 1:22:55( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: fight and whe to bring our injured service meers to the medical care they require, and to maintain a progra supporting the wars we are fighting today. mr. president, i think this is exactly the wrong time to remove these ten c-17's which are

1:22:56 to 1:23:17( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: already in the defense appropri i think the future is uncertain. i think respect to afghanistan, with respect to pakistan, with respect to iran, with respect still to iraq, with respect to a number of other places in the world.

1:23:18 to 1:23:38( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: and where we are short is strategic airlift. and the most efficient, most effective airlifter we have is the c-17. i strongly in this bill. and i very much chairman of the appropriations committee, the distinguished

1:23:39 to 1:24:01( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: senator from inouye. thank you very much, mr. president. i yield the floor and abse the clerk will call the roll -- the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.