Fri, Jun 19, 2009
Close Vote In House Armed Services Committee
By a 31-30 vote, the House Armed Services Committee agreed to
keep funding for the embattled F-22 Raptor program, despite
objections from the White House. While the Democratic chairs of
both the HASC and the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee voted
against the measure, Republicans managed to peel off enough
Democrats to gain the narrow margin. House aides have said the bill
will face a difficult time in the full House, and the Senate.
The amendment with funding for the F-22, authored by Utah
Republican Bob Bishop, is attached to a more comprehensive spending
bill. It would pay for the planes with money shifted from
environmental cleanup at some military bases.
According to The New York Times, the bill appropriates $369
million for part for 12 new fighters. The vote comes at a time when
some allies, most notably Japan, are expressing an interest in
buying F-22's from the U.S., though current law prohibits their
export. The Japanese government might have to pay up to $2 billion
for the removal of certain stealth technologies from the planes
they would buy. Japan has expressed in interest in up to 40
aircraft.
Republicans have been opposed the Obama administrations plan to
halt production of the F-22 after building 187 of the planes, which
cost about $200 million each. GOP leaders say the additional
fighters are needed to insure against potential threats from major
powers.
Opponents of the plane, however, point to the fact that it has
not been used in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and say that it is an
unaffordable cold war relic.
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