[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 79 (Friday, May 23, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL 
                               YEAR 2015

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                               speech of

                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4435) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Chair, I would like to commend the House Armed Services 
Committee and its Chairman, Honorable Buck McKeon, and Ranking Member, 
Honorable Adam Smith, on passage of the FY15 Defense Authorization Bill 
today that includes funding for additional Navy EA-18G ``Growler'' 
aircraft, as well as language to continue the EA-18G and F/A-18 E/F 
lines in my district in St. Louis, Missouri.
  The United States Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Greenert, has 
testified to Congress numerous times this year about the growing need 
to control the electromagnetic spectrum to support the war fighter. He 
and the Navy have requested 22 additional EA-18G ``Growler'' aircraft, 
as part of an unfunded requirement, to meet these expanding electronic 
attack requirements.
  I have a number of constituents that work on the EA-18G and F/A-18 
production lines in St. Louis. Without additional aircraft from 
Congress this year, this production line will shut down, and we as a 
nation will lose a national asset--including thousands of dedicated and 
talented workers who make up this defense industrial base.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming weeks, 
especially on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, to help 
address this clear Navy requirement. We need to support our war 
fighter, and the EA-18G ``Growler'' is vital to operating and 
prevailing in the important and growing airborne electronic attack 
environment.

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