MCKEON BILL CALLS FOR SPY-PLANE FUNDS.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Continuing his push to reactivate the SR-71 Blackbird program, Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon has introduced a bill to provide $30 million for the spy plane that had been vetoed by the president. The bill extends the authorization to spend $30 million on Blackbird operations to Sept. 30, 1999. Without the extension, the funding authority would lapse this September. The authority to spend $9 million for SR-71 aircraft modifications is valid for three more years. ``The SR-71s capabilities are indispensable in defending America in this era of international terrorism and rogue nations armed with weapons of mass destruction,'' said McKeon, R-Santa Clarita. President Clinton stopped the SR-71 Blackbird program in October by using a line-item veto to strike down $39 million for its operations. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the line-item veto was unconstitutional. The Clinton administration has not announced what it intends to do with the Blackbird funding. On Wednesday, McKeon and nine other congressmen sent a letter to the Pentagon asking for the restoration of the funds. In the letter, the representatives argued the Blackbird aircraft are needed to provide quick intelligence information in a world that has seen the spread of sophisticated weapons in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan and India. If the Blackbird funding were to be restored, it would be the second time the sleek jet came out of retirement. Citing limited financial resources and development of other reconnaissance systems, such as unmanned drones drone or remotely piloted vehicle, a pilotless craft guided by remote control. Aircraft, ships, and land vehicles can be designed or outfitted as drones, although underwater vessels—both piloted and pilotless—are usually called submersibles. Small, relatively inexpensive military drones are used as targets in combat practice, while high-performance models may be used in hazardous reconnaissance missions and to carry and launch and satellites, the Blackbird airplanes were retired in late 1989. Spurred by accounts of field commanders not receiving the intelligence they needed during the Persian Gulf War, Congress voted to restore the program. After a refurbishing and modification program by Lockheed Martin ``Skunk Works'' in Palmdale, two SR-71s were declared ready for spy missions on Jan. 1, 1997. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Funding for the SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet plane in the air, is set to end in September. |
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