[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 17 (Thursday, February 4, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SHORT-SIGHTED DECISION ON 
                                 F-22S

  (Mr. GINGREY of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Speaker, on Friday, January 29, 
Russia's fifth-generation fighter jet, with stealth capabilities, 
successfully completed its first test flight. This is an ominous 
development indeed, as it comes on the heels of the Obama 
administration's decision to terminate production of our own fifth-
generation air superiority fighter, the F-22A Raptor.
  The administration's decision to end the F-22 program at 187 aircraft 
was clearly not driven by military requirements, as a longstanding Air 
Force requirement for the F-22, developed to meet the national military 
strategy, is 381. While President Obama and Secretary Gates were 
expending great capital in shorting the Air Force by nearly 200 F-22s, 
it should be clear to all of us what the Russians have been doing.
  Air superiority is not something we should take for granted, Madam 
Speaker, for owning the skies is what enables us to own the 
battlefield. The President's shortsighted decision on the F-22 ignores 
the possibility that at some point in the future, we could find 
ourselves in conflict with a conventional military power that could 
challenge our air superiority, a possibility I don't think any of us 
would like to imagine.

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