[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7077]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1100
      IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OUR TROOPS INSTEAD OF ENDANGERING THEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, there are few things more important for 
us to deal with than the health and safety of our men and women in 
uniform. For everything they do, for all the courage they've shown and 
the sacrifices that they've made, we must be absolutely vigilant about 
protecting them from unnecessary risk.
  That's why I was troubled to hear news reports about several of our 
most highly trained and skilled Air Force pilots experiencing loss of 
oxygen while in the cockpit of the F-22 aircraft. We're talking about 
blacking out, losing control of the plane, and suffering memory loss. 
In fact, 18 percent of those who flew the F-22 reported an incident 
similar to this. In fact, one family blames this mysterious affliction 
for a crash that killed their loved one.
  We have some of our most fearless pilots afraid and even refusing to 
take the controls of the F-22. Two pilots went so far as to appear on 
shows like ``60 Minutes'' without permission from their superiors so 
that they could expose the problem.
  In response, Madam Speaker, I prepared an amendment to the National 
Defense Authorization Act, which the House will debate today. My 
amendment would cut off funding for the F-22 until the Pentagon 
inspector general completes an investigation on these malfunctions and 
finds a solution to protect the safety of our pilots.
  Thankfully, my amendment wasn't necessary because, yesterday, 
Secretary of Defense Panetta took steps to impose flight restrictions 
on the F-22, demanding that the Air Force take stronger safety measures 
to protect our troops. Because of the Secretary's response to these 
life-and-death concerns, I have withdrawn my amendment, but I will stay 
on top of the situation.
  The F-22 isn't exactly a ``bargain basement'' item, Madam Speaker. 
Throughout the life of the program, it's cost taxpayers $79 billion. 
And that's for a plane originally designed to fight the next generation 
of Soviet jet, even though the Soviet Union, itself, didn't have a next 
generation, and it doesn't even exist any longer. What's more, the F-22 
hasn't flown a single mission in Iraq or Afghanistan.
  It troubles me, Madam Speaker, that we've spent so much on slick, 
supposedly state-of-the-art aircraft that are making our Air Force 
pilots dangerously sick--at a moment when we could use that money on 
programs our servicemembers badly need. For example, veterans groups 
are fighting for more resources for mental health treatment, for job 
placement, for access to education, for VA home loans, and much more. 
Certainly we should invest in improving the lives of our troops instead 
of endangering them.
  My Republican colleagues are fond of pointing out that we're in a 
challenging fiscal environment where every government expenditure 
should receive the strictest scrutiny. I just hope that they'll apply 
as tough a standard to expensive weapons systems as they do to foreign 
humanitarian aid and important domestic safety net programs right here 
at home.
  As we debate the defense authorization today, we must choose the 
defense programs that actually enhance our national security over ones 
like the F-22 that are creating more problems than solutions.
  Madam Speaker, I believe more strongly than ever that we need to end 
the war in Afghanistan, supporting our troops by bringing them home; 
but, in the meantime, making sure that the planes they fly and the 
equipment they use are as safe as possible is certainly our number one 
responsibility. We owe them nothing less.

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