Gallego Provision to Halt All A-10 Warthog Divestment in House Defense Bill
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) announced that the Chairman's Mark of the House Armed Services Committee's version of the National Defense Authorization Act includes full protection of the A-10 Warthog. This provision, if agreed to by the Senate and signed into law, will keep all Warthogs flying to protect Arizonans and Americans everywhere.
The Senate's version of the NDAA failed to stop the Air Force from preparing A-10s for retirement or putting them into long term storage.
"The A-10 Warthog is of critical importance to our troops abroad," Rep. Gallego said. "It was totally inappropriate for the Air Force to try to retire it without consulting Congress, and I was disappointed to see loopholes in the Senate's version of the NDAA. We need to make sure that we protect the lives of the everyday Americans on the front line, and the A-10 does that with great efficiency. Mothballed aircraft can't protect Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, or Airmen. I will fight for his more expansive language to become law, hopefully with the assistance of the Senate."
Earlier this year the Air Force announced a plan to retire several A-10s without consulting Congress as required by law, without waiting for the results of a fly-off between it and the F-35, and without determining future force laydowns in the United States and abroad. Rep. Gallego consulted with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Donald Norcross (D-NJ), and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Tucson) of the House Appropriations Committee to ensure that our warfighters continue to be able to rely on the Warthog in battle.
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