On the recordMay 27, 2010
Mr. Chairman, we will soon be considering an amendment, the Pingree amendment, which would strip away competition in the F-35, the Joint Strike Fighter, with the competitive engine program. This Congress, on nine different occasions, has stood up for competition, and as recently as this Congress with the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, where the House passed the conference report 411-0. In section 202, we talk about the acquisition strategies to ensure competition throughout the life cycle of major defense acquisition programs. It is estimated, Mr. Chairman, that 5,000 engines will be ordered for the Joint Strike Fighter--5,000 engines. The proponents of this amendment would have us do away with the competition despite the fact that this Congress has invested almost $3 billion in this competition today. Now that we are up and ready, now that the competitive engine is ready to move forward, they want to say, Stop. Stop the race before it even starts. We know better than that, Mr. Chairman. We know better because we learned on the F-15 and on the F-16. We know that this will reduce costs in the long term. As my grandmother would say, this is a penny wise and a pound foolish. Also, just this year, in March of 2010, the GAO report suggests that this goes beyond financial speculation. We know that this is going to save money.
