quotes admiral vinlet, production was slow. i'd like to cite the history of the joint strike fighter program that has taken us where we are today. in a nutshell, the joint strike fighter program has been both a scandal and a tragedy. the j.s.f. program has been in the development phase for ten years over that time it's been the beneficiary of taxpayer development but we still don't have an air force that provides the navy and marine corps with what they need. in fact to demonstrate the ability of the aircraft has not started. at this point this most advanced phase of flight testing won't begin any sooner than 2015. developing and buying these aircraft and building the facilities to support them was originally supposed to cost $233 billion. according to the april 2001 general accounting office report on the joint strike fighter, these costs are now estimated to be closer to $283 billion. let me repeat. original cost estimated $233 billion. now estimated to be $383 billion, an increase of some $150 billion of the taxpayers' money