REPRESENTATIVES URGE SPY PLANE FUNDING.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer In a letter to the Pentagon, Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, and nine other members of congress are demanding the restoration of $39 million for reconnaissance flights by SR-71 Blackbird “SR-71” redirects here. For other uses, see SR-71 (disambiguation). The Lockheed SR-71 was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed YF-12A and A-12 aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works. spy planes. In a letter to William Lynn III, undersecretary of defense, the representatives asked for the funds to be restored, noting the line-item veto line-i·tem veto n. Authority, as of a government executive, to reject provisions of a bill individually. Also called item veto. power used by President Clinton to strike down the funding has since been ruled unconstitutional. Clinton vetoed funding for Blackbird operations in October. ``Based on this ruling, we believe the vetoed funds should be used for the purpose that Congress intended,'' McKeon and nine other House members wrote. ``With the increased presence of sophisticated weapons in Iran, Iraq and North Korea and the spread of weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or to India and Pakistan, the SR-71 is the only platform that can quickly process sensitive information to our intelligence community.'' Other signers of the letter, dated Wednesday, are Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego; Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois; Bill Thomas For other people with similar names, see . William Marshall Thomas (born December 6 1941), commonly known as Bill Thomas, American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1979–2007, representing the 22nd District of , R-Bakersfield; Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands; Norm Dicks, D-Wash.; Ken Calvert Kenneth Stanton (Ken) Calvert (born June 8 1953), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing California's 44th congressional district. , R-Riverside; David McIntosh, R-Ind.; Mark Souder Mark Edward Souder (born July 18, 1950) is an American politician who is serving his sixth term in the United States House of Representatives for Indiana's At-large congressional district (map). , R-Ind.; and David Dreier David Timothy Dreier (born July 5, 1952), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since January 1981, representing California's 26th congressional district (map). He was first elected to the U.S. House at age 28 in 1980. , R-Covina. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the line-item veto was unconstitutional in June, but the SR-71 funds were among several programs not specifically addressed in the court case. The Clinton administration has not announced what it intends to do with the funding of the vetoed programs. The $39 million cut for maintenance, operations and improvements on the three Blackbirds based at Edwards was the biggest cut the president made with his line-item veto from the $248 billion defense budget. The Air Force retired the spy planes, able to fly more than 2,100 mph, in 1989, but Congress ordered them reactivated. The Pentagon has been opposed to using the Blackbirds, contending that the aging jets are too expensive to operate and no longer needed because of the capabilities of spy satellites, improved U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned planes. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon and nine other members of Congress are urging that funding for the SR-71 spy plane be restored. |
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