WASHINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday hailed the vote in Congress to strike down 1.75 billion US dollars in the fiscal 2010 defense budget bill that would fund more F-22 fighter jets.
"I'm grateful that the Senate just voted against an additional 1.75 billion dollars to buy F-22 fighter jets that military experts and members of both parties say we do not need," Obama said after the 58-40 vote by the Senate late on Tuesday.
"At a time when we are fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, this would have been an inexcusable waste of money," the president said. "Every dollar of waste in our defense budget is a dollar we can't spend to support our troops or prepare for future threats or protect the American people.
"Our budget is a zero-sum game, and if more money goes to F-22s, it is our troops and citizens that loose," he added.
Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended to the president to end production of the F-22 at the conclusion of its current funding program in fiscal 2009, as part of his overhaul defense budget reform.
Instead, Gates recommended in his 2010 budget bill to produce more newest manned aircraft, the stealth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which can carry a larger suite of weapons and is better suited for air-to-ground missions such as destroying sophisticated enemy air defenses.
An F-35 also costs half as much as an F-22 and has potential to become the "backbone of America's tactical aviation fleet for decades to come," Gates said.
"The F-22, to be blunt, does not make much sense anyplace else in the spectrum of conflict," said the defense secretary last week at the Economic Club of Chicago.
At the Gate's recommendation, Obama administration has promised to veto any Congress budget proposal that allows for more money for the program.
However, the plan to end the production of F-22 was hit by fierce resistance at Congress since it means loss of thousands of jobs for many lawmakers' states or districts.
没有评论:
发表评论