[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18888]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 18888]]

             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. CHARLES F. BASS

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2561) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to speak on the FY00 Defense 
Appropriations Act and to express my support for the Air Force's F-22.
  I wish to commend the distinguished gentleman from California, Mr. 
Lewis, for producing a bill that addresses the serious and evolving 
challenges facing our military. Under his guidance, the Subcommittee 
has worked very hard to promote our national security within a 
constrained budget, and I believe the bill before us goes a long way 
toward addressing many of our most urgent military requirements.
  I am, however, troubled by the Subcommittee's recommendation to cut 
$1.8 billion from the F-22 program. I certainly appreciate the 
Subcommittee's concerns about the program and am fully aware of the 
substantial challenges it faced as it sought to reconcile military 
requirements with available resources. Nevertheless, I believe that the 
F-22 remains critical to maintaining the air superiority that has 
proven invaluable to the United States to date and will continue to be 
fundamental requirement in the future if our interests are to be 
protected. Indeed, the F-22 program is the Air Force's number one 
priority.
  Mr. Chairman, although I support the bill before us on the whole, I 
look forward to working with the Subcommittee Chairman and other 
members of the Committee to ensure that the F-22 is fully funded in the 
final bill.

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