[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 35 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E424-E425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS AND RESCISSIONS FOR THE 
               DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR FISCAL YEAR 1995

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. THOMAS W. EWING

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 22, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 889) making 
     emergency supplemental appropriations and rescissions to 
     preserve and enhance the military readiness of the Department 
     of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1995, and 
     for other purposes.
  Mr. EWING. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 889, as 
amended, to include the rescission language of H.R. 845, and to commend 
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Livingston for including 
offsetting rescissions from current expenditures to pay for this, much 
needed, Department of Defense supplemental appropriations package. I 
would also like to thank the members of the conservative Opportunity 
Society who joined me in supporting termination of the U.S. Air Force's 
SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft reactivation program, which the 
Appropriations Committee has included in the rescissions package.
  [[Page E425]] Reactivation of the SR-71 was not supported by the 
House conferees during the House-Senate conference on the National 
Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1995. Furthermore, the U.S. 
Air Force does not consider reactivation of the three existing SR-71 
planes to be a national defense priority or cost effective.
  The Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office's [DARO] ``Report to 
Congress on Reactivation of the SR-71'' concluded:

       (1) The SR-71 is a capable good weather Broad Area Coverage 
     collector but adds value only in pre-hostilities crisis or 
     peacetime and only if overflight is authorized.
       (2) The SR-71 adds little benefit in a hostilities 
     situation since it does not meet timeline requirements. The 
     early achievement of air superiority and suppression of air 
     defenses would permit existing systems to achieve better 
     coverage.
       (3) The SR-71 is an extremely limited crisis surveillance 
     platform since it does not have a near-real-time or loiter 
     capability.
       (4) The SR-71 in a stand-off mode (pre hostilities crisis) 
     is much less capable than existing reconnaissance assets 
     (e.g., U-2).

  In its conclusion, the DARO report expressed the Air Force's concern 
``that as the remaining spares are depleted or shelf life expires, the 
cost to acquire parts that have been out of production could cause 
expenses to climb rapidly.'' Simply stated, the SR-71 reactivation is 
truly a low-priority defense program and it does not deserve funding at 
this time.
  Congress authorized and appropriated $100 million for reactivation of 
the SR71 in fiscal year 1995, and DARO estimates the 6-year cost of the 
program to average $95.6 million per year. Unfortunately, the 
Appropriations Committee is only able to recover $80 million at the 
present time. Nevertheless, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the 
Appropriations Committee for including the SR-71 rescission in the 
bill.


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