By Emelie Rutherford
The Senate is expected to cast a delayed vote as soon as today on striking F-22 fighter jet funding from the Pentagon policy bill, and both sides of the debate are predicting a close vote.
Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) worked late yesterday to line up a vote for this morning on their amendment to remove from the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill $1.75 billion to by seven Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-22s. They tried and failed Monday night to arrange a vote for yesterday morning on the F-22 amendment, the first of many expected on the defense bill that is anticipated to remain on the Senate floor into next week.
Both Levin and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who helped add the monies for the fighter not requested by the Pentagon to the bill during the SASC markup, predicted letters sent Monday from President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen will sway senators against supporting the F-22 monies. Obama sent Levin and McCain identical letters saying he would veto the defense bill over the F-22 funding, while Gates and Mullen wrote to the lawmakers a reiteration of their opposition to buying more F-22s that the 187 already planned (Defense Daily, July 14).
“I’m sure (the letters have) probably had some effect on undecideds,” Chambliss told reporters after delivering an hour-long floor speech on why Gates is wrong and the Air Force indeed needs and wants more F-22s.
Chambliss said he and other F-22 funding supporters are “fighting an uphill battle.”
“Anytime you’re going against the grain with the White House and the secretary of defense I think it’s an uphill battle,” he said. “But I feel good about where we are. We’ve got good, strong support.”
McCain said Monday he and Levin do not have enough support to pass their amendment to strike the F-22 funds.
Levin told reporters yesterday he still predicts a “close vote” on the amendment, yet he believes the Obama, Gates, and Mullen letters will bolster support for it.
The SASC chairman also highlighted a letter he received Monday night from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Secretary Michael Donley supporting the administration’s stance on buying no more than 187 F-22s.
“I think the three letters will have an effect,” Levin said.
Schwartz and Donley wrote they “assessed the F-22 decision from all angles, taking into account competing strategic priorities and complementary programs and alternatives, all balanced within the context of available resources. We did not and do not recommend F-22s to be included in the FY10 defense budget. This is a difficult decision but one with which we are comfortable.”
Backers of the F-22 funds have received an array of supportive letters as well, including from the United Steelworkers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and AFL-CIO labor groups.
Pentagon F-22 boosters include Air Combat Command (ACC) chief Gen. John Corley and Air National Guard director Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt III. The nonprofit Air Force Association supports buying more than 187 F-22s.
Senior Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) also touted the fifth-generation fighter in a Monday night floor speech.
Dodd said his argument in support of F-22s goes beyond his concern about job losses in his state, home to engine maker Pratt & Whitney [UTX], where he said 2,000 jobs could be lost.
If the amendment to remove the F-22 funds passes, Dodd said, “then we cannot guarantee America’s continuing air dominance.”
“Our allies will not always look like those we faced in Afghanistan in 2001 or Iraq in 2003, enemies whose air defenses were in tatters,” he said, addressing comments that the F-22 is designed for air-to-air dogfights and has never been used in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. “We do not always choose when and where our battles are going to be fought. We must be prepared and we must retain our competitive edge.”
The White House also suggested last month that Obama could veto the version of the defense authorization bill the House passed June 25 over unrequested funds added to it for developing and buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine developed by General Electric [GE] and Rolls-Royce.
The Senate bill similarly calls for funding the alternate engine, at a cost of $438.9 million.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.), chairman of the SASC’s Airland subcommittee, was preparing late yesterday to file an amendment to strike the alternate engine monies and restore them to accounts for developing the F-35 and buying 10 UH-1Y helicopters for the Marine Corps.