[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4853]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        U.S. ARMED FORCES CONTINUALLY ASKED TO DO MORE WITH LESS

  (Mr. RYUN of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer an example of 
the United States Armed Forces continually being asked to do more with 
less.
  Within the district I represent, the Second District of the great 
State of Kansas, resides the 190th Air Refueling Wing of the Kansas Air 
National Guard. This wing is responsible for a variety of support 
operations around the world. In the past year, under the stress of 
continued deployment, the wing has sent personnel and aircraft to 
Iceland, to Germany, to France, to Turkey, and to Alaska as well.
  However, Mr. Speaker, the newest KC-135 aircraft used by the 190th 
was built in 1963. 1963. The oldest aircraft was built in 1956. The 
President's budget forces the wing to use that aircraft until 2040. 
That would make the existing aircraft nearly 80 years old.
  Mr. Speaker, would my colleagues be comfortable flying into a 
military confrontation in an 80-year-old aircraft? I doubt that we 
would. So we must not ask our young pilots to go into combat in an 
aircraft that would be considered antique in any other area.
  We must increase defense spending to give our military personnel the 
equipment they need to remain the world's premier military force.

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