[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 97 (Friday, June 20, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H5593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RETAIN THE U-2 AIRCRAFT PLATFORM

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the good work 
of the Defense Appropriations Committee in retaining the U-2 aircraft 
platform, which is based in northern California's Beale Air Force Base, 
where 1,000 personnel from Nevada, Yuba, Placer, Sierra, Sutter, and 
other nearby counties work to ensure that our troops have the most 
timely and accurate intelligence possible.
  As the commander of U.S. forces in Korea recently testified, the U-2 
provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance--ISR--
capabilities that do not currently exist in any other platform.
  The committee recognized that, while the Global Hawk and unmanned 
aircraft, in general, bring a number of new and future capabilities to 
the fight and to the ISR mission, the Global Hawk serves as a 
complement to the U-2, not as a rival.
  While I understand the fiscal constraints that the Air Force is 
under, I am pleased to see that the Appropriations bill directs the 
Secretary of the Air Force to present a plan to the committee before 
taking any action to retire the U-2 fleet.
  The capabilities gap that would occur in ISR mission should the U-2 
be graveyarded would be both immediate and be felt for years to come.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to retain this aircraft for our security.

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