Senate Proceeding on Jul 23rd, 2009 :: 2:16:35 to 2:23:25
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2:16:31 to 2:16:53( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: vote in support of the lieberman amendment and to vote against the bayh amendment. and i a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: he madam president, thank you. madam president, i rise to join my colleague, senator kennedy,

2:16:35 to 2:23:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Kerry

2:16:54 to 2:17:14( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: amendment to eliminate funding for the joint strike fighter alternative engine. i disagree with the comments from the senator from georgia who is actually inaccurate in saying that it is going to take away a weapons system from our military at the current time. it doesn't take any -- any weapon system away whatsoever. it simply changes the

2:17:15 to 2:17:35( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: of production with respect to the c-130's, but all of the c-130's ordered will be built. so no system is taken away. i think it is important to try to be accurate about what is at stake here. like senator kennedy, and a lot of other people, senator bayh, and others, i leave that alternative engine is critical

2:17:36 to 2:17:56( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: to help reduce risk to our forces, to protect against cost voafer runs, to preserve the -- overruns, to preserve the manufacturing base and to support our international partners. and it's a -- it's a little strange, i might add to have some of our friends on the other side of the aisle who usually are quick to come up here and

2:17:57 to 2:18:17( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: support competition in the american marketplace arguing that we shouldn't competition and that we ought to have a single source of production for engines. where we have already seen that there are problems, frequently, in those single-source production lines. i strongly supporthe second-degree amendment offered

2:18:18 to 2:18:40( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: by senator bayh and senator kennedy that wouldrovide more than 156 million for the management reserves of the joint strike fighter program and more than $280 million for the marine corps helicopter fleet. this will allow the senate to preserve funding for the vital marine corp. helicopters without eliminating competition for the

2:18:41 to 2:19:02( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: joint strike fighters competitive alternative engine program. now, let me just say, madam president, that the funding for th alternative engine has been important to center kennedy for a long period of time. as we all know, he is being treated back in massachusetts, not here today, but his statement in -- in support of

2:19:03 to 2:19:23( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: the amendment that he is offering with already been put in the record by senator bayh. and i would like to simply reference one thing that senator kennedy has said -- quote -- "competion for the joint strike fighter engine has compelling advantages and avoids past pitfalls.

2:19:24 to 2:19:44( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: duel sourcing -- siewl sowrsing will avoid a single point of failure for the past with other fleet-wide groundings. competition delivers an inherent incentive for manufacturers to absorb

2:19:45 to 2:20:05( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: even as it encourages responsiveness by contractors. continuous product improvements now all of us know that's the american -- that's the way are most effective at producing all of our goods in this country. we do it through competion and it's that kind of competion

2:20:06 to 2:20:30( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: that spurs avoids cost overruns. senator kennedy is 100% accurate in his analysis of this issue, and i hope senators will weigh his measurement of this based on his years of experience on the armed services committee as well as on the facts regarding this particular engine proposition.

2:20:31 to 2:20:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: the alt engine program -- alt engine program spreads capacity across the base. what it does i production, maintenance, and availablity of critical components so that they're not concentrat single producer. now why does that matter? well, the current engine for the

2:20:52 to 2:21:12( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: joint strike fighter has had testing issues. it's simply not appropriate to stand up here and suggest that everything is absolute hunky-dory. there have been two failures in the past two years requiring a redesign,

2:21:13 to 2:21:34( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: remanufacture, and delays in the flight test program. in fact, the engine has yet to even be flight tested in the most stressing flight regime, the vertical landing mode. these tests have been delayed for now seduled to take place in december. it is precisely that kind of

2:21:35 to 2:21:55( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: alternative enge program. in fact, the 2007 institute of defense analysis study concluded and i quote from it -- competition has the potential to bring benefits, in addition to reduced prices, inclu readiness, contractor responsiveness, and industrial-base breadth.

2:21:56 to 2:22:17( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: so i don't believe, madam president, that it's in the best interest of our military to have the major part of the fighter fleet dependent on a single engine type provided by a single manfacturer. it's simply too risky and experience tells us it is too risky.

2:22:18 to 2:22:39( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: in and f-16 fleets were grounded as a result of reliability and durability issue aircraft were dependent on one engine type. similarly the av-8 was grounded for months due to engine problems.

2:22:40 to 2:23:00( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: with over 200 procurement and each dependent on one aircraft and one engine type for the vast majority of capability, it simply doesn't make sense t put all of it into one engine manfacturer, one engine and one producer. and we certainly don't want to take the r fleet being grounded.

2:23:01 to 2:23:21( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: competion will avoid that potential. so i ask my colleagues to oppose the lieberman amendment. support the bayh-kennedy amendment to provide additional funding for the joint striker fighter program and to the marine corps helicopter fleet. i believe that is the way we best eliminate risk and best serve the armed services and the

2:23:22 to 2:23:25( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: needs of this particular aircraft. madam president, i reserve the