The Hill reports --
Senators are pressing President-elect Obama to allow the Air Force to continue buying F-22 Raptor fighter jets.
Deciding whether to buy more F-22s after the final aircraft on order is delivered at the end of 2011 is one of the first strategic and business decisions Obamas Pentagon leaders will have to make after Inauguration.
A group of 44 senators 25 Democrats and 19 Republicans sent Obama a letter with the request. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), a defense authorizer who represents a state where Lockheed Martin builds the fighter plane, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a defense appropriator whose state is home to Boeings operations, headlined the letter. Boeing is a subcontractor for the F-22.
Continued F-22 production is critical to both the national security and economic interests of our country, Murray said in a statement. At a time when we are looking to create jobs and stimulate the economy, eliminating the $12 billion in economic activity and thousands of American jobs tied to F-22 production simply doesnt make sense.
The 2009 defense authorization bill requires Obama to decide by March 1 whether to continue the production of the F-22.
--John Noonan
