Gates Welcomes House Vote Against Extra F-35 Engine

Gates Welcomes House Vote Against Extra F-35 Engine

By Jim Garamone 
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2011 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today welcomed the full House of Representatives vote to kill the extra engine for the F-35 joint strike fighter, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

The House voted 233-199 to strip funds for the engine from the fiscal 2011 defense spending bill.
"Secretary Gates welcomes today's vote and is gratified that the full House has recognized the merits of the department's position in opposing the JSF extra engine," Morrell said. "He understands this afternoon's vote is but one step, although a very important one, on the path to ensuring that we stop spending limited dollars on unwanted and unneeded defense programs." The bill still must go to the Senate, where funding for the engine could be added back.

General Electric and Rolls Royce are building the engine. In 2005, then-President George W. Bush and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld opposed the extra engine. In a statement issued May 28, President Barack Obama promised to veto any legislation that provided funds for the extra engine.

Gates has said he will use every legal means to terminate the extra engine program, which he said is costing taxpayers $28 million a month.


Now a question to ask. The CBO once estimated that the cost of a Cold War Medal would be
about $30 million spread over 5 years. What will happen to the $28 million a month?
Why not use part of that money for a Cold War Medal? Just one month would pay for medals for
all the Cold Warriors. 

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember" 

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Is It Possible China Will Bid On U.S. Military Contracts?

Can we possibly allow this to happen?

China Aviation Industry Corp. is in talks with U.S. Aerospace Inc. and has been for some time. This
could lead to the Chinese bidding on military contracts.

It seems the company is interested in bidding on replacing the Marine One helicopter fleet. Marine
One is used to transport the president.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company also wants to supply the Air Force with
over 400 training aircraft for the F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters.

The Marine One fleet was supposed to be replaced by Lockheed Martin, but due to cost
overruns and rising prices President Obama orderd the plan scrapped and told the military
to find less expensive options.

This might enable the Chinese state-owned company to obtain secret U.S. military technology
by using this partnership with a U.S. company.

China has in the past attempted to enter critical U.S. industry, and these attempts have always
been defeated. Current regulations and vociferous political backlash led to the demise of these
past attempts.

As China continue to rapidly expand and grow its military, pushing hard to gain a strategic
foothold on the world; it would be foolhardy and incomprehensible to allow China to even
think this would be a possibility.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said recently "Even as the United States pursues a more
constructive relationship with China, we and our allies cannot ignore the Chinese military's
recent advances in missiles, space and cyber warfare."

So the answer must be a very large resounding NO to any possibility of a Chinese company
bidding on U.S. military programs.

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans
"We Remember"



---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996