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Senate defense bill may spark aircraft fight

The 2010 defense budget cleared two key legislative hurdles Thursday, setting up a possible showdown between Congress and the Obama White House on some key aviation programs.

The House of Representatives passed HR 2647, the 2010 defense authorization bill, on a 389-22 vote, and the Senate Armed Services Committee passed its version, so far unnumbered, by a unanimous vote in an early kickoff of the legislative process that sometimes extends far beyond the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said the full Senate could take up the bill for debate in two weeks, after lawmakers return from their Fourth of July break.

The bill could get bogged down in disagreements about major weapons system, especially the F-18, F-22 and Joint Strike Fighters, issues that may lead the Obama administration to veto the defense budget.

Levin said his committee’s bill agrees with 90 percent of the cancellations and delays in weapons proposed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but the other 10 percent where they disagree could lead to some fights.

The committee:

• Voted to buy 18 Navy F/A-18 fighters rather than the nine requested by the Obama budget.

• Added seven F-22 aircraft, which Gates wanted to terminate.

• Approved $438.9 billion for the Joint Strike Fighter program to continue developing an alternative engine that Gates proposed to cancel.

Levin said he expects the three issues to be part of a contentious debate on the budget when the Senate takes up the bill.

“I don’t think anybody is looking for a battle here with the White House,” he said.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Senate committee’s ranking Republican, sided with Gates on the three programs and predicted close votes when the Senate debates the aircraft.

The White House issued a veto threat Wednesday of the House version of the defense bill because it also includes money for the alternative engine development for the Joint Strike Fighter and continues to purchase F-22s.

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• Obama threatens veto of authorization bill