Monday, July 13, 2009

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Floor Statement on the F-22
Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor

Madam President, I rise to affirm everything the Senator from Connecticut said. He made an articulate, detailed case for the F-22, in opposition to the amendment. I commend him.

I wish to add three thoughts, three good reasons, for the F-22 and not to adopt the amendment: No. 1, when the U.S. Air Force wrote the RFP for the weapon system of the 21st century to replace three existing, aging aircraft, the F-22 met and exceeded every single part of the RFP. No. 2, for those who say the cost is some $2,000 an hour more for maintenance, you have to quantify that. Look what you are buying. You are buying stealth technology that exists nowhere else in the world and the ability to deliver munitions and leave without ever having been seen. Most recently, in Alaska, the F-22, in a mock battle, destroyed 144 aircraft before it lost its first one.

Lastly, and most importantly, while it may not be the plane exactly for Afghanistan and Iraq today, what about North Korea? What about Iran? What about what happened to us in the Balkans in the late 1990s, when President Clinton deployed our air strength to put together what was a terrible situation? We must be prepared for whatever will come in the 21st century. If there is anything we have learned, you cannot underestimate what may come. I commend the Senator for his articulate statement and affirm everything he said in support of not adopting the amendment and to continue to purchase the F-22 beyond the 187 currently being capped--or asked to be capped at. I commend the Senator for his remarks.