[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 9, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         SERVICE SECRETARIES REIT- ERATE NEED FOR C-17 AIRCRAFT

                                 ______


                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 9, 1994

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, recently, in testimony before the House 
Committee on Armed Services, Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall 
and Secretary of the Army Togo D. West, Jr., reiterated support for the 
C-17 airlift program. Calling the airplane an essential element of 
military modernization programs, Secretary Widnall's testimony states:

       The C-17 is a major part of our modernization effort and 
     will significantly improve our ability to get forces quickly 
     to the fight. It will fulfill the airlift customer's need for 
     a flexible, responsive airlifter able to deliver forces and 
     outsized equipment to small, austere airfields, and to 
     airdrop troops and equipment over an objective area. The Air 
     Force will procure six C-17's this year toward a fleet of 40 
     aircraft as announced by the Secretary of Defense in December 
     1993. In 1995, we will reevaluate the program's maturity and 
     determine the optimum mix of additional C-17's and 
     nondevelopmental aircraft to meet our airlift needs as we 
     retire the workhorse C-141.

  Army Secretary West, in discussing strategic mobility said:

       Strategic lift initiatives of the other Services are 
     critical to Army power projection. These include procurement 
     of an enhanced airlift capability like that provided by the 
     C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, procurement of Large Medium 
     Speed Roll On Roll Off [LMSR] ships, and the upgrade of the 
     Ready Reserve Force. Great progress is being made in this 
     arena. The Air Force has taken delivery of 5 operational C-
     17's and will activate the first squadron of 12 aircraft in 
     July 1995.

  Mr. Speaker, the men and women of McDonnell Douglas Corp., are 
working hard to correct the problems that have occurred on the C-17 
program. Both the Defense Department and the Congress are exercising 
strong oversight of the airplane. I am confident that this partnership 
will ensure accountability, quality, and ultimately the core airlift 
airplane envisioned by Secretary Widnall and Secretary West and 
desperately needed by our Armed Forces.

                          ____________________