Lawmakers jockey for support on hot-button defense issues

Lawmakers this week will be jockeying to gain support for several
hot-button issues that are going to heat up House debate over the 2011
defense authorization act.

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the chairman of the House Democratic
Caucus, is leading the effort to gain support for an amendment to the
massive defense policy bill that would strip funding for the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter backup engine made by General Electric and Rolls Royce.

{mosads}So far, Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) are
emerging as the main co-sponsors of the amendment to strip the $485
million from the bill, but the actual language and strategy are still
under consideration.

The goal in part is to have a good number of backers for the
amendment who are not just from Connecticut to avoid the perception
that it is a parochial battle. Pratt & Whitney, the primary engine
maker, is based in Connecticut, Larson’s home state. Pratt &
Whitney also has Defense Secretary Robert Gates on its side: Gates this
week reinforced that he would recommend a veto over the backup engine.

Debating the fate of the backup engine on the House floor will
become a high-stakes battle. In the fight to preserve both engines for
the fighter program the House has so far always authorized funding for
the engine in its versions of the defense policy bills. But last year,
the Senate successfully stripped the funding, and the GE-Rolls Royce
engine could meet the same fate this year. One of the chambers would
have to keep it in its versions of the bill in order for it to become
an item of negotiation during conference.

But the highly technical acquisition and policy debate over
whether the largest fighter jet program should have a backup engine and
competition between engine makers will not be the only issue hotly
debated this week.

Lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are
still trying to figure out whether they would be able to muster enough
votes to pass the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” the ban that
prevents openly gay people from serving in the military. Supporters of
the repeal are working to figure out a way that guarantees the ban
would be scrapped by year’s end. The next few days will be critical in
crystallizing that path.

The House is expected to take up the 2011
defense authorization bill on Thursday.