WASHINGTON: The House Appropriations defense subcommittee this week voted 11-5 to provide $450 million to keep the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F-35 alternate engine alive, despite veto threats from the White House.
The funding was contained in the panel’s $681.8 million markup of the FY11 defense appropriations bill, which includes $157 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. An amendment to keep the engine program alive was offered by Rep. Jerry Lewis (Calif.), the top Republican on the appropriations committee. The funding is expected to remain in the bill when it is considered by the full House Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) opposed the funding, and said he expected President Obama to veto the legislation if the funding is not removed. “I did not want to get my first bill vetoed,” Dicks said. He also noted that the House does not have enough votes to override a veto.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), meanwhile, said the engine program will likely not make it into his panel’s markup of the bill due to a lack of support in the Senate. The fate of the program would therefore remain uncertain until House and Senate negotiators finalize a spending bill in conference.
The Obama administration also issued a veto threat over the addition of C-17 cargo aircraft, though the panel decided against funding more C-17s.
