[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 95 (Monday, June 15, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016

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                               speech of

                             HON. TED LIEU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 10, 2015

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2685) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes:

  Mr. TED LIEU of California. Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my 
support for the Space-Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) Wide Field of View 
(WFOV) effort.
  Unfortunately, the House's Defense Appropriations bill for FY16 would 
completely eliminate SBIRS WFOV funding due to concerns that the 
initiative was being used to develop new technology rather than making 
evolutionary upgrades to existing programs.
  I believe that these concerns are misplaced, and I am concerned that 
eliminating funding will derail this valuable effort at a critical 
juncture. It is my understanding that SBIRS WFOV does in fact support 
evolutionary development of the Program of Record (POR). Data gathered 
from WFOV efforts will support risk mitigation efforts to the POR and 
will facilitate cost savings by maturing technologies before 
implementing them on the POR.
  It is worth noting that the Senate and House Armed Services 
Committees fully funded the WFOV effort in their respective versions of 
the FY16 National Defense Authorization Act, as did the Senate Defense 
Appropriations Subcommittee.
  The SBIRS WFOV initiative is designed to lower future costs while 
evolving vital components of our national security space architecture. 
I urge my colleagues to support full funding for this initiative during 
conference negotiations.

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