U.S. House approves GE second engine funds

The final hurdle for General Electric Co. in its quest for continued funding of its F-35 alternative engine program – a veto threatened by President Obama – is swiftly approaching, but to hear Capitol Hill lawmakers tell it, that will be no obstacle.Despite a vague veto warning from the Obama administration, the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. on Thursday easily adopted a major defense policy bill that calls for continued development of an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, the next generation U.S. fighter jet.The measure now goes to the Senate for final congressional action and then on to the White House for Obama’s signature or veto.The second engine for the Air Force’s multi-mission fighter for the future would be built by GE, with some of the work to be done at the company’s aircraft engineering facility in Lynn, and the Rolls-Royce company.The bill’s passing will be welcome news at GE’s Riverworks plant, where it is expected to positively impact employment for its near-4,000-strong workforce for the immediate future.The main F-35 engine is built in Connecticut by Pratt & Whitney.The House approved the measure by a 281-146 vote. The legislation recommends $560 million for the program in 2010, with $380 million targeted for the GE-Rolls Royce version of the engine, known as the F136, and $180 million slated for its procurement.The administration promised in June to veto the legislation if it would “seriously disrupt” the F-35 program, a vague test at best.Lawmakers have parsed the Obama threat and decided not to take it seriously.”I think if they ? were going to carry it out, they would have been more explicit,” said Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., a senior member of the Armed Services Committee.”It would be a shock to me” if Obama vetoed the measure, said the panel’s top Republican, Howard “Buck” McKeon of California.Both sides in this funding issue had staked out positions based on opposing principles.Proponents say the second engine program will fuel competition and therefore savings while the Pentagon has insisted the Pratt & Whitney engine is performing well – despite some bad test results recently – and that the second engine adds unnecessary costs and delays.But now the Pentagon is backpedaling.”Our position on this is that if the final bill ? calls for further investment in the second engine, the department will carefully evaluate the impact on the overall Joint Strike Fighter program before making recommendations to the president about whether or not to veto the legislation,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.The annual defense authorization bill would guide the Pentagon budget for the fiscal year that began last week.Associated Press material was used in this report.