[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 4, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H1460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IT IS TIME THAT CHINA LET THE CREW OF THE DOWNED EP-3 COME HOME

  (Mr. CUNNINGHAM asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to cover real quickly the 
EP-3 incident with China. Some of my colleagues had questions. From the 
time the aircraft was hit, the EP lost 8,000 feet. I am sure the crew 
inside thought that those were their last minutes. They had 20 minutes 
to make a determination with a single-engine gone, another engine 
damaged and the entire front of the airplane off.
  Some of my colleagues say, why did they not fly to other places? The 
chances for fire and explosion on that airplane were very high.
  Secondly, we are in a non-Cold War situation. The rules of engagement 
dictated that they fly and land that airplane to save the crew.
  Why not ditch the airplane? The EP-3 has probably got a minute and a 
half from the time it hits the water. It is not like pulling over to 
the side of the road and changing a tire. Half the crew is going to be 
lost.
  Why not bail out? The closest rescuer or destroyer was over 12 hours 
away, which would have put them there about 11:00 at night. It was not 
an option.
  Our crew did a good job. They had 20 minutes to get rid of all the 
classified material, which we think that they were able to do. I think 
they did a good job. I think we owe them a lot of our appreciation, and 
it is time that China let them come home.

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