By Emelie Rutherford
F-22 supporters in the Senate said they are pushing to secure funding to continue the jets’ production line, and the head of a powerful defense panel said F-22 funds are in a Senate version of war supplemental legislation.
Asked yesterday about the chance of F-22 advance-procurement funds being in the upcoming war supplemental, Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee (SAC-D) Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said, “The bill that we have includes that.”
“So we’ll go forth with our bill,” Inouye said outside the Senate chamber. “We’ll see what happens in the conference.”
The advance procurement money is intended to stave off a shutdown of the Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built jets’ production line, and keep it running in FY ’10. Air Force officials have said they need to know by October or November if money will be available to keep the line humming. The Pentagon does not support continuing the line, which would increase the number of F-22s over the 183 planned.
The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) is scheduled to hold a markup of a dual-year war supplemental–for the rest of FY ’08 and a “bridge” for FY ’09–Thursday afternoon.
The House is moving to skip over a House Appropriations Committee (HAC) markup of the bill and take the measure straight to the House floor. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said yesterday the supplemental will hit the House floor “likely Thursday.”
SAC-D Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) yesterday said he supports adding money for the Lockheed Martin jets to the war supplemental, but did not know of specific plans to add the monies.
“I think there should be more money for F-22s, but I don’t know what [the bill] is going to do,” Stevens said.
He said that while House and Senate defense appropriators met recently to decide on provisions of the bill, he said he has not seen any versions of the supplemental that have been talked about that include other provisions including troop withdrawal language. An earlier version of the bill the House and Senate were eyeing did not include F-22 funds.
House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) last week said F-22 advance-procurement money he sought to include in the House version of the supplemental had to be removed–as House leaders prepared to take the measure to the floor–because of resistance in the Senate.
Murtha’s spokesman yesterday said if the Senate were to include F-22 monies in the supplemental, “then we look forward to addressing this issue in conference, as the House certainly supports additional funding for the F-22.”
Stevens predicted the SAC will not hold a markup of the bill on Thursday. A markup had been scheduled for last week but then cancelled. He predicted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to take a supplemental that passes the House and then put it to a vote in the Senate without any amendments–a process he objects to.
“We won’t get to a markup … you just wait and see,” Stevens said yesterday, clearly frustrated.
“I don’t think we’ll have a hearing, frankly,” he added. “What’s going to be determined in the Senate is what the House sends over on this bill, and I don’t think we’re going to mark up the House bill, because it hasn’t been passed.”
Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said yesterday they’re working to secure the F-22 advance-procurement funds in the supplemental.
“There’s been obviously some heavy lobbying coming out of the Pentagon to not necessarily have it in there,” Chambliss said. “But Sen. Inouye, Sen. Stevens have both been very supportive of it, as has the House leadership on Defense Approps. So we’re hopeful it’s going to be in there.”
Asked about reports last week that the Senate was not prepared to put the F-22 monies in the supplemental, Isakson said: “Well that’s why you have new weeks, new things happen.”