Steve Driehaus: “If we're serious about reducing spending, we should be promoting competition among government contractors, not stifling…”

“If we're serious about reducing spending, we should be promoting competition among government contractors, not stifling it. We know from experience that a competitive engine program for our military aircraft drives down long-term costs and leads to a more reliable product for our Armed Forces. That's why competitive procurement has long been the policy of the Federal Government, and that's why we need a competitive engine program for the Joint Strike Fighter. But the primary contractor responsible for the upcoming F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine doesn't want to play by the rules. They want to be declared the winner of the race while all of the contestants are still at the starting line. The development of a competitive engine is 75 percent complete and is expected to be available to the military 5 years ahead of initial projections. The competitive contractor has twice offered a fixed price to complete this project, ensuring production won't be burdened with cost overruns. I urge all of my colleagues to do what's responsible to taxpayers and responsible to our men and women in uniform: Support the Joint Strike Fighter Competitive Engine Program.”