U.S. Senate ends production of F-22 fighter
The contentious debate about whether or not to continue production of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-22 fighter jets beyond the 187 now on order has ended: the Senate votes 58-40 for an amendment striking $1.75 billion for seven more F-22s from a defense spending measure
The U.S. Senate voted to end production of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-22 fighter jets at the 187 now on order after President Barack Obama threatened to veto any measure containing money to build more. Senators voted 58-40 for an amendment striking $1.75 billion for seven more F-22s from a defense spending measure. The amendment was sponsored by Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and John McCain of Arizona, the panel’s ranking Republican. “The time has come to end the F-22 line,” Levin said on the Senate floor before the vote. “This is a difficult decision but one we are comfortable with.”
Obama said he is “grateful” to members of the Senate who voted to end production of the F-22. “At a time when we’re fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, this would have been an inexcusable waste of money,” Obama said at the White House.
Gopal Ratnam and Tony Capaccio write that the overall measure authorizes $680.4 billion for spending by the Defense Department in fiscal 2010. The Senate plans to pass it later this week. The measure must be reconciled with the House version passed 25 June that provides $369 million as a down-payment for 12 more fighters.
Lawmakers seeking to continue production of the fighter argued that ending it would cost thousands of jobs. “We are told that there are at least 25,000 direct jobs and 95,000 indirect jobs at stake” if the production ends, said Democrat Chris Dodd of Connecticut, where F-22 engines are made.
The president, in a letter to Levin and McCain 13 July, said he would veto any budget bill that contains money for more F-22s. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the military leadership “determined we do not need these planes,” he said.
The budget bill the Senate is now considering authorizes spending. The Senate and House committees that appropriate money for approved spending have not acted on the Pentagon’s budget.
Gates, in a 13 July letter, told lawmakers that the Pentagon preferred the F-35 Lightning II or Joint Strike Fighter, also made by Lockheed, because it is a “half-generation newer aircraft than the F-22 and more capable in a number of areas
