President Obama Had Said He'd Veto The Defense Appropriations Bill

The full Senate has voted 58-40 to strip $1.75 billion from the Defense Department appropriations bill earmarked for an additional seven F-22 Raptors. The plane had been the subject of a threatened Presidential veto.

Congress had originally put the money for the additional Raptors into the bill, while both the President and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were saying the controversial stealth fighters were not needed for the current defense structure. CNN reports that the vote was not along the traditional party lines. Both Democrats and Republican crossed the aisle on the vote, many because the program represented jobs in their states.

As it stands in the Senate bill, production of the F-22 will stop at 187 aircraft. The Pentagon is concentrating instead on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, hoping to build 500 of them over the next 5 years, and eventually procuring a fleet of 2,400. There is still money for the F-22 in the House version of the Defense Appropriations Bill, setting up a possible conflict in conference committee.

FMI: www.senate.gov