Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) believes some “pork” is good. Amid a renewed effort to end “pork-barrel spending,” Lewis cites the case of the funds earmarked for USAF’s Predator UAV as ample proof that sometimes the practice is a true benefit to the nation. He told the Washington Times, that it was earmark funding that advanced development of the Predator by “two, three years,” making it possible to send the UAV to cover operations in Bosnia in the 1990s. Another Republican, Arizona Legislator Jeff Flake, maintains Lewis is using a faulty analogy, saying it was an established program and funding was just a matter of how much.
Multiple U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters have deployed to the strategic outpost of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to protect the myriad of assets deployed there, including strategic bombers.