Opposition To Gulfstream Purchase Growing In Congress | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.13.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.14.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.15.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.16.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.17.24

Mon, Aug 10, 2009

Opposition To Gulfstream Purchase Growing In Congress

Overall Appropriation Request Has Swelled To $550 Million

It seems that the  $200 million appropriated by the House Armed Services Committee for three Gulfstream C-37's ANN reported last week was just the tip of the iceberg. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Senate is considering an appropriations bill that includes nearly $550 million for aircraft to transport government officials independent of the commercial air system.

But the measure is also drawing bi-partisan opposition in the Senate.

The Senate bill would appropriate money for eight Gulfstream and Boeing jets as a plan to upgrade the fleet of aircraft used by the military, and sometimes members of congress, for travel to areas where commercial flight is difficult or even impossible. "It is evidence that some of the cynicism about Washington is well placed -- that people get out of touch and they spend money like it's Monopoly money," Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said in an interview Sunday.

The Obama Administration had originally requested $220 million for 4 jets, the paper reported. Senators upped that to eight as they were leaving Washington for their August recess, one of the busiest travel periods for members of Congress.

Gulfstream C-37 File Photo

While many members say they will oppose the funding when debate resumes in the fall, supporters of the purchase say the older aircraft have to be replaced. "The key here is not whether or not planes will be bought, it's when planes will be bought," said Ellis Brachman, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, the panel that approved the spending. He said only about 15% of the Air Force passenger flights include members of congress, and that the planes are predominately used by the military.

FMI: http://appropriations.house.gov, http://appropriations.senate.gov

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.17.24): Very High Frequency

Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.17.24)

Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: ANN Visits Wings Over The Rockies Exploration Of Flight

From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.16.24: PRA Runway, Wag-Aero Sold, Young Eagles

Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC