Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004

TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I am sure there is no way I can convey in these minutes all of the important information that needs to be conveyed about this issue. I will highlight a few things.

This debate started in 2001 and still goes strong today. The testament of the many Members who were here on the floor is that we are trying to move ahead and move ahead with what is a very needed product.

I thank my colleague from Washington and my colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, who is also interested in this issue.

The bottom line is we all know if we could buy these planes now and have the resources, we would do that. We all know buying the planes sooner makes them cheaper. The issue we have been struggling with is, where are the resources and how do we make this come together in a timely fashion to meet the need.

Senator McCain has made all of us stop and think about this issue in ways we might not have thought. I don't think any
Member wanted to or should have excluded the authorizing committee from playing its normal role and capacity of reviewing these projects. The fact of the matter is we now are 2 years into this process and we have to figure out a way to move forward. The Armed Services Committee is trying to do just that, trying to say 100 planes should be made through either a lease or procurement process as part of a contract and that we need to move forward soon on the start of that lease contract.

We are still a few days away from finally getting a product. I thank Senators Warner and Levin for taking this step in the process outlined in 2001 of the authorizing committee giving its feedback on this original proposal by Congress to have a pilot lease program.