House panel vows more oversight of weapons decisions

This week's unanimous decision of the House Defense Appropriations Subcomittee to stop the Air Force's F-22 fighter from going into production signifies the determination of the subcommittee to get more involved in choosing the nation's weapons, according to its new chairman.

"We are going to be in the middle of these procurement decisions," declared Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., who took over the panel this year.

According to LEGI-SLATE News Service, Lewis Wednesday elaborated on the rationale for his subcommittee's denial of the $1.8 billion the Air Force needs to put the F-22 air superiority warplane into production; the plane is now undergoing flight testing. The Air Force is spending so much money on the F-22-the most expensive fighter plane ever built at nearly $200 million a copy-that many of the service's other vital programs are being starved to death, Lewis said. The subcommittee unanimously agreed Monday it should not allow the Air Force to continue on this flight path, he said.

The panel's decision on the F-22 should serve notice to all the armed services that the subcommittee will not rubber stamp even their most prized projects, Lewis said. The message, he added, is, "Time to get your house in order."

Lewis contended the Air Force is "very close to a broken branch" of the U.S. military because of the strain the F-22 has imposed on the service. He contended there was a good chance the Senate would agree with the House and limit the fighter to research and development-rather than allow Lockheed Martin Corp. to advance it to production.

"This is not a bargaining chip" to be traded for other concessions when the House and Senate meet to hammer out a compromise appropriations bill, Lewis said.

The California Republican, who has the Army's National Training Center in his district, said the recent air war against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic spotlighted many of the shortcomings of the armed services. The Air Force-while negating the Yugoslav air force in a hurry without using the F-22-found itself woefully short of tankers and aircraft which jam enemy radars, Lewis said. And the Army's failure to get its Apache helicopters and crews ready for the war illustrated gaps in both training and equipment, he added.

The House Appropriations Committee Friday will review the actions of the subcommittee in hammering out a $266.1 billion fiscal 2000 Defense appropriations bill. The measure, which is expected to reach the House floor next week, shifted money around within President Clinton's FY2000 budget in hopes of alleviating what Lewis and his colleagues consider the here-and-now problems of the armed services.