WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kit Bond today cheered the news that a tentative agreement on the final troops funding bill includes $2.2 billion to keep the C-17 airlift line in production.  Since President Obama announced his decision to close our nation’s only large airlift line, Bond has taken the lead in reversing this dangerous gamble with our national security.

 

“Congress’ decision to reverse the President’s dangerous budget gamble is great news and will ensure our continued ability to transport our troops and equipment anywhere in the world,” said U.S. Senator Kit Bond.  “When the Boeing Union workers were in my office last month I told them not to give up hope – we were determined to restore funds for the critical C-17.”

As senior members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senators Bond and Feinstein (D-CA) have been working behind the scenes to ensure funds for the C-17 line would be included in the final bill.  The troops funding bill is currently in the House-Senate conference, of which Bond is a member.

 

Bond also worked with Senator Boxer (D-CA) to secure the support of 17 of their Senate colleagues in asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to include funding in the troops funding bill for the highly successful C-17 program.  

 

Today, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, Daniel Inouye (D-HI) announced that conferees reached a tentative deal, which includes $2.2 billion for the C-17 in the final fiscal year 2009 troops funding – or supplemental defense appropriations – bill.  Inclusion of these funds will be a critical victory for Bond, Feinstein, Boxer and other advocates of this essential cargo plane.  Bond has continued to stress that eliminating our only large airlift line puts at risk our capability to transport safely our troops and equipment to anywhere in the world and threatens our domestic industrial base.  Before being signed into law, the final bill must pass out of conference committee and both the House and Senate chambers.

 

Also, earlier today Bond continued his fight to restore funds to the Super Hornet, the backbone of the Navy’s tactical air fighters.  At today’s hearing in the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee the Senator took the Administration to task for drastically underfunding the Super Hornet. 

 

Bond emphasized that the President’s choice to underfund the Super Hornet and increase funds for the Joint Strike Fighter or F-35 just doesn’t make national security or economic sense right now.  The Senator pointed out that the drastically over-budget F-35 will not be ready on time and will result in a Navy fighter shortfall of 243 aircraft within the next decade – which means our Navy will have empty carrier decks.  This decision gambles with our ability to project U.S. power from aircraft carriers – our nation’s ability to deal with current and emerging threats around the world.  Underfunding the Super Hornet also damages our security in the long run by eroding our competitive domestic industrial base, Bond pointed out. 

 

In addition to bad national security policy, the decision to underfund the Super Hornet is also bad economic policy.  Nationwide, the Super Hornet supports more than 110,000 American jobs in 1,400 companies in 44 states, including 4,000 jobs in St. Louis alone. The President’s budget decision puts all of these jobs at risk.

 

Bond is also one of the F/A-18’s best advocates when it comes to our foreign allies.  In a meeting later this week Bond will meet with members of the Brazilian Congress to urge them to purchase the Super Hornet. 

###