Levin, McCain expect some flak in Senate's F-22 dogfight

It's not every day that Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., lose a battle over defense priorities -- particularly when they have the backing of a popular president and Defense secretary.

But Levin and McCain recently failed to stop their own committee from adding $1.75 billion to the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill for seven F-22 Raptor fighter jets the Obama administration doesn't want. They will try to strip out the funding on the Senate floor next week but could come up short again.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates insists the 187 Lockheed Martin-produced F-22s now in the Air Force fleet or in production are adequate to combat current and future threats. And, in a strong endorsement of Gates' decision to stop buying the radar-evading fighter, President Obama has threatened to veto the authorization bill if it contained unwanted funds for the planes.

For his part, Levin has said he can't foresee Obama vetoing the bill over F-22s when the measure endorses much of his fiscal 2010 defense budget request. But if the final bill authorizes funding to buy more of the stealthy fighters, McCain said he wants the president to reject the measure.

"If they get it [F-22s in the bill], I hope the president would veto as he's threatened to," McCain said in a brief interview this week.

The House-passed version of the bill includes a $369 million down payment for 12 F-22s in fiscal 2011, despite objections from House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and most other Democrats on the panel. If McCain and Levin are successful, they should be able to count on Skelton to help rid the bill of any F-22 money.

But first they must persuade dozens of senators inclined to continue the F-22 program to vote against it.

The fighter, parts of which are produced in 44 states, has a legion of supporters on Capitol Hill who are not shy about arguing the benefits of a defense program that, they estimate, provides $12 billion in economic activity annually in the United States.

Their efforts also have been boosted by two senior Air Force officers -- Gen. John Corley, head of the Air Combat Command, and Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, Air National Guard chief -- who have broken with Air Force leadership and publicly endorsed buying more F-22s as a strategic necessity.

But McCain, an outspoken foe of pork-barrel spending, argues that parochial interests are driving the debate, not strategic concerns.

"I think probably the most credible person in America on national security issues is Secretary Gates," McCain said. "If he can't succeed, then it's quite a commentary."

Both Levin and McCain have said they are not counting votes, but Levin acknowledged the outcome will be close.

Other lawmakers agree it will be difficult to eliminate the F-22 funding. "Old habits die hard around here," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of 11 Armed Services Committee members who voted against the additional F-22s when the panel marked up the bill.

Thirteen panel members, including four Democrats, voted for the fighters, underscoring how the issue cuts across parties and traditional alliances.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., who typically aligns himself with McCain on defense matters, supported more F-22s during the markup. The planes fly with engines from Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney.

"The Air Force has repeatedly warned that stopping this program at 187 aircraft would place our nation at 'higher risk,' and that is not a risk I am willing to accept," Lieberman said on June 26, a day after Levin and McCain vowed to take their fight against the F-22s to the floor.

One measure of the challenge facing the two committee leaders is the Senate's past support for F-22s, especially three years ago when lawmakers clashed over whether to authorize a three-year procurement contract for 60 F-22s.

Levin, McCain and then-Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., argued then that the F-22 would not offer substantial cost savings or meet other requirements to justify a multiyear contract.

But 70 senators, most from states with a share of the F-22 program, voted for the multiyear deal, handing the committee leaders a rare public defeat.