McCain vs. Cochran over C-17 cargo planes
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for terminating C-17 production, but the president has not issued a veto threat. And unlike the F-22, the transport plane’s mission can be easily linked to ongoing U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Chicago-based Boeing — the chief contractor — has mounted a strong lobbying effort, hoping to strike fast and roll up big margins. Nonetheless, the political climate is tricky for the industry, which was caught by surprise late Tuesday when Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) spoke against funding the C-17.
The money, $2.5 billion, is part of a nearly $626 billion defense appropriations bill that elsewhere cuts about $2.4 billion from the administration’s request for operations and maintenance funds. Both Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and his ranking Republican, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, strongly support the C-17 funds, but the cuts from operations could be a political Achilles’ heel, given the increased focus on Afghanistan.
“Failure to fund the C-17 will result in the United States shutting down its airlift manufacturing base at a time when the demand for airlift is likely to grow,” Cochran said on Tuesday. “Allowing the C-17 supply base and production line to shut down and then trying to reconstitute it would cost billions of dollars and take years to accomplish.”
“Our priorities are just about the opposite of where they should be,” countered Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has proposed to effectively move the C-17 funds into operations. “It’s hard to vote against,” McCain told POLITICO, and in his floor speech, he cast his amendment as a crucial choice for the full Senate.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27730.html#ixzz0SbGLB6Rq
9/30/9
Magnolia Tribune
