by Megan Scully
In a test of President Obama's ability to control defense spending, the Senate is expected today to vote on an amendment to strip $1.75 billion for seven F-22 Raptor fighter jets not sought by the administration from the FY10 defense authorization bill.
By Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin's estimation, the authorization measure endorses roughly 90 percent of the president's FY10 defense budget, including the cancellation and restructuring of dozens of military programs.
But the decision to end F-22 procurement with the four jets in the recently enacted FY09 supplemental spending bill is the centerpiece of Defense Secretary Gates' plans to redirect funding to meet strategic and tactical defense needs and eliminate unnecessary spending.
On Monday, Obama took the unusual step of writing Levin and Armed Services ranking member John McCain -- both of whom oppose buying more F-22s -- to warn that he would veto the bill if it authorizes money for more of the Cold War-era fighters.
Levin and McCain have offered the amendment to delete funding for the additional F-22s, which were added at the committee markup over their strong objections.
But the Lockheed Martin-produced planes have significant support on Capitol Hill. With elements of the radar-evading fighters produced in 44 states, the program's boosters have claimed the program generates $12 billion annually in economic activity in the United States.
The Senate could vote on the amendment as early as this morning, and McCain acknowledged Monday it could fail. He said he hoped Obama's letter would have a "significant impact on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle."
"Not only do we need to stop the production of the F-22 . . . but we need to do business differently," McCain said. "We need to have a change in the way we do business in order to save the taxpayers unneeded billions of dollars. And so this will be kind of an interesting moment in the history of a new presidency and a new administration."
Levin said he hoped the Senate could complete consideration of the bill this week, but added that it was a lofty goal.
Besides the dispute over F-22s, the Armed Services Committee's decision to authorize $438.9 billion to develop an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will likely provoke a lively floor debate.
McCain and Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., will try to eliminate funding for the engine, which would be produced by General Electric and the British firm Rolls Royce. Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney builds the primary engine for the F-35.
On Monday, Lieberman said advocates of the alternate engine took $282.9 million from the Marine Corps' UH-1Y helicopter program to offset much of the funding they used to restore the alternate engine program, which Obama and Gates have deemed a waste of resources. Lieberman argued that the Marine helicopters are critical for operations in Afghanistan.
In a July 10 letter to Lieberman, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway wrote that the UH-1Y funding cut "will lead to continued reliance on aging helicopters that should have been retired from the inventory years ago."
Among other amendments expected to be considered, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy said he would introduce language that would extend the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation and provide federal assistance to state and local authorities investigating and prosecuting hate crimes.
The language was added to the Senate's version of the FY08 defense authorization bill, but ultimately was dropped in conference amid concerns from House lawmakers that it would jeopardize passage of the final bill.
"I was disappointed that the hate crimes provision was taken out of that bill in conference, but I hope that senators on both sides of the aisle can work together this year and help us to finally enact this bipartisan civil rights measure into law," Leahy said in a statement Monday.