[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S7466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            FUNDING THE GLOBAL AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment and 
recognize the brave men and women who flew and supported the mission of 
the B-2 bomber. The B-2 is a critical asset of our U.S. military and 
must be supported in the future. The B-2 can carry up to 40,000 pounds 
of munitions and can strike up to 16 targets in a single pass. The 
first night of the bombing in Baghdad, 6 B-2s destroyed 92 targets on 
the first night. B-2s flew nonstop, 36-hour missions from Whiteman AFB 
in Missouri to Iraq, unscathed. The B-2s targeted everything from 
airfields to surface-to-air missiles, sometimes changing targets while 
airborne enroute to Iraq. No other military has this capability with 
such accuracy and survivability. It is essential we fund the Global Air 
Traffic Management, GATM, system, the Secure Nuclear Communications and 
Broadband Connectivity capabililty, and the repair of the Aft Deck 
Durability issue for the B-2. We must ensure the B-2 is maintained and 
modified to keep its lethal edge.

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