Political Quotes

“Congress has supported a competitive acquisition for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine for the last 14 years for good reason. The total program is expected to cost more than $100 billion over the next 30 to 40 years. The Government Accounting Office has concluded that competition between engine suppliers could provide a life-cycle cost savings of over 20 percent. A competitive F-35 engine program would also reap other benefits such as increased reliability, improved contractor responsiveness, a more robust industrial base, and less chance to ground the entire fleet to fix a problem. Chairman Andrews and Ranking Member Conaway of the bipartisan House Defense Acquisition Reform Panel have stated that annual engine competition will make both engines better and save taxpayers money--up to $21 billion based on the F-16 experience. The development of the alternative engine is now nearly 75 percent complete. To pull the plug on this program would forfeit $3 billion in taxpayer funds that have already been spent. Competition saves taxpayers money. It's been proven to on the other fighter engine program. Why would we write a blank check to a single supplier for 40 years?”