Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman Holds a Hearing On the Defense Authorization Request for Fy2010 and the Future Years Defense Program for Tactical Aviation Programs

Political Transcript Wire › October 02, 2009

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Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman Holds a Hearing On the Defense Authorization Request for Fy2010 and the Future Years Defense Program for Tactical Aviation Programs

SENATE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AIRLAND HOLDS A HEARING ON THE DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST FOR FY2010 AND THE FUTURE YEARS DEFENSE PROGRAM FOR TACTICAL AVIATION PROGRAMS

JUNE 9, 2009

SPEAKERS: SEN. JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, I-CONN. CHAIRMAN SEN. EVAN BAYH, D-IND. SEN. JIM WEBB, D-VA. SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, D-MO. SEN. KAY HAGAN, D-N.C. SEN. MARK BEGICH, D-ALASKA SEN. ROLAND BURRIS, D-ILL. SEN. CARL LEVIN, D-MICH. EX OFFICIO

SEN. JOHN THUNE, R-S.D. RANKING MEMBER SEN. JAMES M. INHOFE, R-OKLA. SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, R-ALA. SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, R-GA. SEN. RICHARD M. BURR, R-N.C. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ. EX OFFICIO

WITNESSES: NAVY VICE ADM. DAVID ARCHITZEL, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY FOR THE OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND ACQUISITION

DEPUTY MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT FOR AVIATION LT. GEN. GEORGE TRAUTMAN III

AIR FORCE LT. GEN. MARK SHACKELFORD, MILITARY DEPUTY, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, AIR FORCE FOR ACQUISITION

NAVY REAR ADM. ALLEN MYERS, DIRECTOR OF WARFARE INTEGRATION/SENIOR NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS

AIR FORCE MAJ. GEN. MARKE GIBSON, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, OPERATIONS, PLANS AND REQUIREMENTS, DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

[*] LIEBERMAN: The subcommittee will come to order.

I thank everyone for being here. A special thank you and welcome to our witnesses who are here with us today.

It is against the backdrop of the continued bravery and exemplary performance of the American military in Iraq and Afghanistan and, in fact, throughout the world that we convene this session of the Airland Committee -- Subcommittee to discuss the present and future of aviation programs, particularly tactical aviation programs.

This, in some sense, has become an annual meeting for this Airland Subcommittee. Every year, we're faced with a challenge of balancing a number of competing demands for limited resources including a balance between current operations and future modernization, all of it to fulfill, as best we can, our constitutional responsibility to enable the men and women of the American military to provide for the common defense.

Because of the pressure on our budget and the pressure on our military, this is a -- a particularly difficult year in which we try to strike exactly the right balance.

The subcommittee and the full committee hope to mark up, as we said, to prepare our authorization bill, if possible, by the end of this month. And so what we hear today and what we learn today will be of specific and tangible effect -- have a specific and tangible effect on the deliberations of this subcommittee as we report and recommend to our colleagues on these programs.

So I appreciate the extraordinary group of witnesses we have before us.

I'm going to abbreviate my statement and just to say briefly that among the issues that we -- as we've said to you in asking you to come and testify that we want to talk about, of course, the questions about the F-22A procurement, about the F/A-18 force structure issues, about some of the Joint Strike Fighter development progress and the -- and the impact of the decision on the F-22 and the president's budget on -- and the increase in the pace of development of Joint Strike Fighter and what impact it will have on that program, and then also the question of the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.

These -- these are difficult and important questions, but we know that the witnesses before us today can help illuminate our path forward and therefore we thank you for being here.

Senator Thune?

THUNE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I want to thank our panelists and would join you in welcoming our witnesses here today to discuss tactical aviation programs contained within the president's budget request for fiscal year 2010.

The fiscal year 2010 budget is an integral part of a much longer- term process that will help ensure our defense dollars are spent wisely to address the threats that we face today and will likely face tomorrow.

Now I understand there are additional issues that must be addressed which will be informed by a number of ongoing reviews, including the Quadrennial Defense Review, and the committee looks forward to being briefed on the full range of those issues and how they will affect future budget decisions.

While the president's 2010 budget submission represents a snapshot of the services' overall requirements, it also rais...

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