[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   WHY I OPPOSE THE KASICH AMENDMENT

  (Mr. DICKS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in very strong support of the 
funding provided in the House Committee on Armed Services bill for 
long-lead funding for three additional B-2 bombers. I served on the 
Defense Subcommittee for 17 years and remember well when President 
Carter and Secretary Brown made the decision to go ahead with the 
stealth bomber.
  I am convinced that in the Gulf War one of the reasons that we were 
able to win the war quickly and convincingly is the effective work of 
the F-117, the stealth attack aircraft. It was able to go into the most 
heavily defended areas and with 2,000 pound precision-guided munitions 
take out enemy surface-to-air missiles. That is an amazing capability.
  The B-2 has 8 times the carrying capacity of the F-117. It can go 6 
times as far. I am convinced that in the future it presents us with the 
potential of a conventional deterrent. If we load it up with smart 
conventional weapons, we can stop an enemy division from invading in 
the future into Kuwait.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I hope we will support the committee and oppose the 
Kasich amendment.

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