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Murtha believes lawmakers will be able to persuade the White House to add money to buy spare parts for the F-22 and complete an initial batch of presidential helicopters that President Barack Obama has said are not needed. Obama has repeatedly threatened to veto a defense spending bill that includes money for the F-22, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., if lawmakers succeed in their effort to buy more planes beyond the 187 requested. Republicans and Democrats representing districts with jobs tied to the program are fighting to keep the F-22. Instead of F-22s, the Pentagon wants to buy more unmanned spy drones and the F-35 stealth fighter jets that Gates said are more sophisticated in some ways than their earlier-generation cousins. He said the F-22 is really only needed in one or two types of missions -- namely, to defeat a fleet of highly advanced enemy fighter jets. In his half-hour speech at the vaunted economic club, where presidents, candidates and other major policymakers
have for years spelled out their fiscal goals, Gates paid homage to Obama's hometown. He spoke, however, as a Washington veteran, at times swiping at the capital's politics and the decisions that they drive. "By one estimate, our budget adds up to about what the rest of the entire world spends on defense," Gates said. "Only in the parallel universe of Washington, D.C., would that be considered gutting defense."
[Associated
Press;
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