House panel rejects bid to restore future combat program funding
Subcommittee leader reiterates argument that panel must give higher priority to near-term needs.
The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday rejected Republican efforts to restore $200 million for the Army's premier technology transformation program during its markup of the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill.
In a 33-26 party-line vote, the committee defeated an amendment offered by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., that would recover some of the $867 million the committee plans to cut from the Future Combat Systems program next year.
FCS, whose total price tag is estimated at $160 billion, emerged as the most contentious issue during the opening hours of the markup, which is expected to extend into the night. Akin and other supporters urged that the deep cuts -- about 25 percent of the Pentagon's request for the program -- would devastate the Army's modernization efforts.
House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, continued to reiterate his argument that the panel must give higher priority to the Army's near-term needs than to those of the distant future. House Budget Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., argued that the committee still set aside $2.8 billion for FCS next year -- an indication the "glass is more than half full."
To offset his amendment, Akin had recommended cutting $134 million from the Joint High Speed Vessel program and another $66 million from unobligated balances in the defense health program -- two programs that, he stressed, would not affect military readiness or near-term priorities.
During this morning's portion of the markup, the committee approved the marks presented by the Air and Land Forces, Seapower and Expeditionary Forces, and Terrorism and Unconventional Threats subcommittees, with few major changes.
Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., failed in his efforts to prevent the Air Force from retiring its older C-5 Galaxy airlifters. The Air Force has hoped to retire 30 of its oldest C-5 aircraft and use that money to buy C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes.
In Wednesday's markup, the committee lifted restrictions on retiring those airframes, allowing the Air Force to gradually deactivate C-5s beginning in 2009. But Gingrey, whose district includes the Lockheed Martin plant that is modernizing C-5s, succeeded in requiring an independent cost analysis of the savings generated by retiring the C-5s instead of upgrading them.