[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 15, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1130
                         BOONDOGGLES IN THE SKY

  (Mr. KLINK asked was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KLINK. Mr. Speaker, today we take up H.R. 7. If it were a song, 
we could get Vaughn Monroe to record it, and we would call it 
``Boondoggles in the Sky.'' It is, in fact, spending additional moneys 
in addition to the $36 billion we have already spent on star wars, a 
system that does not work, and now we are starting to make a decision 
as to whether or not we put our dollars into troop training, into 
weapons modernization, into spare parts, or do we put the high priority 
on this budget-busting fantasy called star wars? Estimates are it would 
cost anywhere from $11 billion, with a B, to $97 bill, with a B, more 
dollars.
  Now this all came out of the Contract With America, and I say to my 
colleagues, ``You have to remember, ladies and gentlemen, we're talking 
about our national defense, yet the Contract With America is a 
political document written by lobbyists, written by special interests 
who were able to donate tens of thousands of dollars to their favorite 
political party in order to have a seat at the table.''
  Now do we want those people setting our national defense policy, or 
do we want the Joint Chiefs of Staff to decide our defense policy? Do 
we want the political consultants and the lobbyists deciding our 
defense policies, or do we want the Secretary of Defense deciding what 
our policy will be?

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