CQ TODAY MIDDAY UPDATE
July 13, 2009 – 2:00 p.m.
Fighter Debate Clouds Senate Consideration of Defense Policy Measure
The Senate began consideration Monday of the annual defense authorization bill with a contentious debate over whether to terminate the F-22 fighter jet program.
The fiscal 2010 defense policy bill would authorize $1.75 billion to build seven more of the planes. The money would have to be appropriated in the defense-spending bill, which has yet to be written in either chamber.
Carl Levin , D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, took to the floor with a letter from President Obama that repeated his threat to veto any bill authorizing additional F-22 production. Obama wants to shut down the F-22 production line after 187 of the jets are delivered, and his letter said additional procurements would “waste valuable resources.”
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, backed Obama’s position in a letter of their own.
Levin had said last week, however, that he did not believe Obama would exercise his veto over the F-22 issue. Still, he and John McCain of Arizona, the committee’s ranking Republican, introduced an amendment to strike the authorization for more F-22s.
“I would strongly recommend the president of the United States to go ahead and veto this bill if the F-22 is included,” McCain said on the floor. “Right now the votes are not there to pass this amendment.”
McCain said decisions about production of the plane should “not be based on jobs,” but rather on national security needs.
The F-22 is the first issue to provoke a veto threat from Obama. He first raised the prospect last month over a House-passed provision in its version of the bill authorizing $369 million to procure parts for a dozen F-22s that would be completed using fiscal 2011 funds.
F-22 supporters, including Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson , Republicans from Georgia, where the planes are assembled, were expected to defend the building of more planes.
Comments
The F-22 is the most advanced fighter on the planet. However, it is also the most expensive fighter per unit ever produced due to these advancements. Therefore, with only so much money to go around for defense, the price tag has to be balanced with available money and the threat that currently exists and the emerging threats during the next 30-40 years. Advance technological weapon systems, while effective, will always come under the threat of not being procured to a service branches' stated need simply because they are so expensive per unit. The true debate is whether this country needs to increase the amount of money that goes for defense, or massively reform defense acquisition, which is currently underway, but will also come under great attack from constituencies within the Defense Department and out. It will be massively difficult to reform acquisition to a point that it actually makes a difference, which can be defined in many ways. In my view, making a difference means properly assessing threats and developing and sustaining weapon systems that meet the threat within the half trillion dollar Defense budget.
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