[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 38 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S3275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NEW MEXICAN CONTRIBUTION TO IED COUNTERMEASURES EQUIPMENT IN IRAQ

 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I recognize and praise the 
outstanding contribution of Delta Group Electronics and Canberra Aqulia 
of Albuquerque, NM, and New Mexico State University to ongoing efforts 
to protect our service men and women from improvised explosive devices, 
IEDs, in Iraq.
  One of the greatest threats to our military personal deployed in the 
global war on terrorism is the IED. These devices used by terrorists 
and insurgents in Iraq are the single greatest cause of American 
casualties. These remote controlled bombs are used to attack American 
forces individually and as part of larger assaults on patrols and 
convoys.
  While the up-armoring of military vehicles has provided a partial 
solution to the problem of combating IEDs, a better solution is to 
prevent IEDs from exploding at all. The IED countermeasures equipment, 
ICE, being fielded by the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq is designed to 
accomplish this goal. ICE will jam the radio signal which is used to 
detonate many of these devices.
  Delta Group Electronics and Canberra Aquila are an integral part of 
making ICE available to our soldiers in Iraq. Aqulia Technologies Group 
Inc. has been located in New Mexico since 1971. Delta Group Electronics 
has been operating since 1987.
  These companies have been instrumental in delivering ICE to our Armed 
Forces in Iraq at one-third the cost of previous IED countermeasure 
systems. I thank them for helping to insure that our brave soldiers 
fighting the global war on terror are safer from these kinds of 
attacks. I have no doubt that both of these companies in the future 
will continue to contribute significantly to the national security of 
our great Nation.

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