Democrats battle F-22 funding

WASHINGTON — A key House Democrat on Tuesday criticized so-called fiscal conservatives for approving millions of dollars for an outdated weapon system, while complaining about ballooning deficits.

“I am of course struck that so many of my colleagues who are so worried about the deficit apparently think the Pentagon is funded with Monopoly money that somehow doesn’t count,” Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said on a conference call hosted by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.

Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, filed an amendment late Monday to eliminate the $369 million approved last week by some of his colleagues, including a few fellow Democrats, for advanced funding for a dozen more of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s radar-evading jets. The planes, built in Marietta, have never been used in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Lawmakers added the funding against recommendations made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the budget submitted by President Barack Obama to Congress.

Republicans backed the measure from Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and were joined by a handful of Democrats in a 31-30 vote by the House Armed Services Committee.

At a press conference last week, Gates called the move by lawmakers a “big problem.”

Frank said the fight to keep the F-22 will be an important test for the Obama administration, and will send a clear message to defense contractors and their political supporters.

“If we cannot hold the line on this, then it’s very bad news for trying to hold down any kind of excesses in military spending,” he said.

Gates has proposed buying 187 of the planes. But that’s dozens fewer than Lockheed and its supporters in Congress had hoped for. Part of Gates’ proposed $534 billion defense budget represents a shift away from Cold War-era weapon systems to futuristic programs aimed at unconventional foes.

A representative from Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed, the nation’s largest defense contractor, could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday evening.