[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 105 (Thursday, July 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8975-S8976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              F-22 FUNDING

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, the F-22 has become a matter of great 
interest and controversy over the last several days because the House 
Appropriations Defense Subcommittee voted to bring a pause to the 
program; it took $1.8 billion out of it and redistributed it to other 
priorities. The problem is, if I might just take a moment to 
characterize it, nobody had any knowledge of the potential of this 
act--not the Defense Department, not the Air Force, not the 
contractors, not any parties who have been involved in development of 
the aircraft.
  To step back for a moment, the decision as to this highly advanced 
weapons system and the decision to commit the Nation to its development 
is well over a decade old. The actual development of the aircraft began 
in 1991. We have now as a nation invested $20 billion in the 
development of this system; two of these unbelievable instruments of 
warfare are being tested in the air, and there is movement now to 
production of the first fighters.
  My point is that after responsible commitments are made through three 
administrations and we have invested everything in its preparation and 
now

[[Page S8976]]

we are ready to harvest that decision, the only words that come to mind 
are, it is bizarre that out of the blue, with no hearings, no 
reflection, this decision just drops like a lead brick into the middle 
of all these circumstances.
  I am going to read the letter written by Secretary Cohen on July 15 
to Congressman Bill Young, chairman of the Appropriations Committee. I 
think it begins to encapsulate the shock of what has happened. He says:

       I was dismayed to learn about House Appropriations Defense 
     Subcommittee's mark last Monday that cut $1.8 billion in 
     procurement funding for the F-22 aircraft. The Department 
     of Defense cannot accept this decision. This decision, if 
     enacted, would for all practical purposes kill the F-22 
     program, the cornerstone of our nation's global air power 
     in the 21st century.
       For fifty years, every American soldier has gone to war 
     confident that the United States had air superiority. 
     Canceling the F-22 means we cannot guarantee air superiority 
     in future conflicts. It would also have a significant impact 
     on the viability of the Joint Strike Fighter Program. The F-
     22 will enable the Joint Strike Fighter to carry out its 
     primary strike mission. The Joint Strike Fighter was not 
     designed for the air superiority mission, and redesigning it 
     to do so will dramatically increase the cost. An upgraded F-
     15 will not provide this dominance and will cost essentially 
     the same as the F-22 program.

  It goes on to say:

       I know the difficult budget environment the Congress has to 
     deal with these days. I support your efforts to give our 
     nation the best possible defense at an affordable cost. 
     However, I believe the nation's defense requires the F-22. 
     The proposed cut jeopardizes our future warfighting 
     capability and will place our forces at higher risk.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter from Secretary 
Cohen be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                     The Secretary of Defense,

                                    Washington, DC, July 15, 1999.
     Hon. C.W. Bill Young,
     Chairman, Committee on Appropriations,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: I was dismayed to learn about the House 
     Appropriations Defense Subcommittee's mark last Monday that 
     cut $1.8 billion in procurement funding for the F-22 
     aircraft. The Department of Defense cannot accept this 
     decision. This decision, if enacted would for all practical 
     purposes kill the F-22 program, the cornerstone of our 
     nation's global air power in the 21st century.
       For fifty years every American soldier has gone to war 
     confident that the Unties States had air superiority. 
     Canceling the F-22 means we cannot guarantee air superiority 
     in future conflicts. It would also have a significant impact 
     on the viability of the Joint Strike Fighter program The F-22 
     will enable the Joint Strike Fighter to carry out its primary 
     strike mission. The JSF was not designed for the air 
     superiority mission, and redesigning it to do so will 
     dramatically increase the cost. An upgraded F-15 will not 
     provide this dominance and will cost essentially the same as 
     the F-22 program.
       I know the difficult budget environment the Congress has to 
     deal with these days. I support your efforts to give our 
     nation the best possible defense at an affordable cost. 
     However, I believe the nation's defense requires the F-22. 
     The proposed cut jeopardizes our future warfighting 
     capability and will place our forces at higher risk.
       I pledge my strongest effort to ensure the program will be 
     delivered within the cost caps that we've agreed to with the 
     Congress. I am confident the Department has the proper 
     management controls to ensure the success of the F-22 
     program. As always, I would be pleased to discuss these 
     matters with you at any time. But I must tell you that I 
     cannot accept a defense bill that kills this cornerstone 
     program.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Bill Cohen.

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, an article appeared on July 21 in the 
Marietta Daily Journal which further illuminates the nature of the 
Secretary's letter. It says:

       Defense Secretary William Cohen criticized a House panel 
     Tuesday--

  This is the point I want to make--

     for not consulting with the Pentagon before voting to suspend 
     development of the Air Force's F-22 stealth fighter jet.
       ``Neither I nor anyone in this building--or anyone in the 
     Air Force--was aware of the effort underway on the part of 
     the committee,'' Cohen told reporters during a photo-taking 
     session [at the Department of Defense].

  This underscores the point I was making that something of this 
magnitude, something of the sophistication of this system, something 
that we have invested $20 billion in, something that we have spent 
almost two decades getting ready to launch, is not managed in this 
manner. It is bizarre that you would find yourself at this point, and 
suddenly a subcommittee decides to overturn almost two decades of 
thought and preparation and planning.
  As I said a moment ago, we have invested about $20 billion in this 
system up to this point. If you were to carry out and carry through to 
the end what the subcommittee has done--and it reappropriated $1.8 
billion--we would lose another $6.5 billion. This House Appropriations 
Committee action would deteriorate and jeopardize the program and 
violate current contractual agreements between the Air Force and the 
contractor.
  One Pentagon source told Defense Daily yesterday:

       The $1.8 billion cut would result in $6.5 billion in total 
     growth, $5.3 billion in production costs and $1.2 billion in 
     engineering and manufacturing development costs.

  In other words, you would not be saving $1.8 billion; you would have 
to bleed out another $6.5 billion. So by this time we would have $26, 
$27 billion in this weapons system--almost two decades--but no 
fighters.
  Anytime you develop a system of that magnitude, there have been 
issues that surround it. But they have all been managed. Extensive 
congressional oversight has been very significant over the development 
of the aircraft. Its problems have been dealt with and managed. As I 
said, we are at the point of actually inheriting this unique fighter.
  There was an article in the Washington Post this morning by Richard 
Hallion. I will read a couple paragraphs.

       There was some irony in the House Appropriations 
     Committee's canceling production funding last week for the 
     Air Force's next generation fighter--the Lockheed-Martin F-22 
     Raptor. The action came only weeks after America's military 
     forces proved--for the third time since 1990--that exploiting 
     dominant aerospace power is the irreplaceable keystone of our 
     post-Cold War strategy for successful quick-response crisis 
     intervention.

  I believe everybody at this point, after the Persian Gulf, after Iraq 
and Kosovo, is looking anew at traditional war strategy. Who would have 
ever thought you could have flown the thousands of sorties that were 
involved in Kosovo with no combat casualties?

       No issue has been more misunderstood than the F-22. The 
     plane links radar-evading stealth with the ability to cruise 
     at supersonic speeds and to exploit and display data from 
     various sources to better inform the pilot about threats and 
     opportunities.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I think the other Senators are here for 
their prearranged time, so I will not go on. I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from North Dakota is 
recognized.
  Mr. DORGAN. I yield myself such time as I consume under the 30 
minutes allocated to this side.

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