Senate agreement clears way for vote on future of F-22

A long-anticipated Senate vote on an amendment repealing the Senate Armed Service Committee's decision to add funding for seven F-22 fighter jets to the fiscal 2010 defense authorization measure is planned for late Monday or Tuesday.

The vote is part of a wider agreement reached by Senate Democrats and Republicans late Thursday that paved the way for a cloture vote on an amendment that extends the definition of hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

The chamber voted 63-28 to invoke cloture and then approved the hate-crimes language on a voice vote.

The vote on the F-22 amendment, which is sponsored by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., had been tied up for days amid partisan wrangling over the hate-crimes amendment sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Republicans opposed the hate-crimes language, arguing that it was not relevant to the defense measure. But Democrats see the annual defense bill, which usually passes by an overwhelming margin, as the best chance to pass the hate-crimes legislation this year.

Under the agreement reached Thursday night, the Senate Monday will first consider several hate-crimes amendments offered by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

His amendments include an authorization of the death penalty for the most egregious hate crimes, but Leahy will offer an alternative amendment that would require the attorney general to set standards for when the death penalty should apply.

Sessions will offer language to prohibit violence against U.S. military personnel because of their service, as well as another amendment that requires hate crimes be identified and prosecuted using neutral and objective criteria.

After voting on those amendments, the Senate will consider language offered by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., that would allow people with permits allowing them to carry concealed firearms to travel into other states that have concealed-carry laws.

The chamber will then turn to the F-22 amendment for two hours of debate, followed by the vote, which Levin and others have said they expect to be close.

The Pentagon wants to cap the fleet of Raptors at the 187 aircraft already on order with Lockheed Martin Corp., arguing that buying more Raptors is unnecessary and would divert resources from more important weapons programs.

On Monday, President Obama took the unusual step of writing Levin and McCain to warn he would veto the bill if it authorizes money for more of the Cold War-era fighters, which are not being flown in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates complained Thursday to an audience in Chicago that lawmakers are using "far-fetched" arguments to justify buying more F-22s. "The F-22, to be blunt, does not make much sense anyplace else in the spectrum of conflict," Gates said.

But the planes have enjoyed strong support on Capitol Hill for years. With elements of the radar-evading fighters produced in 44 states, the program's boosters have claimed the program generates $12 billion annually in economic activity in the United States.