| For
Immediate Release: March 25, 2004 |
Contact: |
Harald Stavenas |
Opening
Statement of Chairman Terry Everett
Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2005 National Defense Authorization Budget Request for Missile Defense Programs
General Kadish is here today to cover the Missile Defense Agency's budget request for 2005. That request is for $9.1 billion and includes various program elements supporting the concept of "layered defenses". These include:
. Ground-based Midcourse Defense
. Aegis BMD
. Airborne Laser
. Kinetic Energy Interceptors, and
. THAAD
In December of 2002, the President announced the decision to begin fielding an initial capability by the end of 2004. General Kadish and his team at the Missile Defense Agency have been working very hard to make the initial defensive operations a reality. This event represents a most significant milestone, building upon concepts first announced by President Reagan a little over twenty years ago. Since its inception, this subcommittee has displayed strong bipartisan support for fielding this initial defensive operations capability.
Interceptors are scheduled to be placed on alert this fall at Ft. Greely, Alaska. Our members will be very interested in hearing of your progress in fielding this initial capability as well as receiving an update on the status of other programs.
General Dodgen, from the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, will cover the Army's $1 billion budget request for
. the PATRIOT system
. the PAC-3 missile and,
. the Medium Extended Air Defense System known as MEADS.
The Honorable Tom Christie will provide the Department of Defense's perspectives on testing of missile defense systems. Mr. Christie, I know we all look forward to hearing your views on this topic, especially as it relates to fielding the initial defensive operations capability later this year.
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Washington, D.C. 20515
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