Ryan faults Obama on plan to close tank factory

[September 25, 2012]  LIMA, Ohio (AP) -- Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan warned Monday that more Americans could be put at risk overseas by the Obama's administration plan to halt production of tanks in Ohio for several years.

The White House has proposed suspending production at the nation's only tank manufacturing plant because the Pentagon says it will soon have enough tanks. Some members of Congress are attempting to restore funding for the tanks and other military weapons in a defense spending bill, a move the White House has threatened to veto.

About 800 workers refurbish the Abrams tanks in Lima, about 80 miles south of Toledo. Republicans in the state have been highly critical of plans affecting the plant and say they won't save the government money.

General Dynamics Corp.'s land systems unit, which operates the government-owned plant, estimates that the cost of shutting down the plant and then restarting it would be $1.6 billion while keeping it open with minimal production over four years would cost $1.4 billion. The Army puts the price of pausing production much lower -- around $400 million.

"We need peace through strength," Ryan told supporters during a rally in Lima. "We need a strong military."

[Associated Press; By JOHN SEEWER]

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