GE’s second engine bill waits on Obama

LYNN – All the political jousting and wrangling finally comes down to just one signature.The final roadblock – a possible veto by President Barack Obama – to continued funding for the General Electric Co. program to co-develop an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will soon be tested after the $680 billion Pentagon policy bill passed the Senate Thursday in Washington, D.C. and was sent on to the White House for the president’s signature or veto.Since Congress is presently in session, the clock is ticking for the president, who is constitutionally required to act on the bill within the 10-day period prescribed in the Constitution. He must sign it or veto it, otherwise it becomes law without his signature at the end of the 10 days.The legislation gives Obama a few victories in his bid to kill some especially costly wea-pons systems, but does contain the funding to continue development – over the president’s strong objections – of the costly alternative engine for the Pentagon’s next-generation fighter jet, with some of the work to be performed at GE’s River Works plant in Lynn.General Electric is the city’s largest employer with just under 4,000 workers employed at the company’s facilities. This funding, labeled “critical” by GE-Lynn spokesman Richard Gorham, is needed to maintain current employment levels at the Lynn aircraft engine plant, which has seen those levels shrink over the last decade. GE’s employment of thousands of area residents is one of the crucial underpinnings of the local economy.The administration promised in June to veto the legislation if it would “seriously disrupt” the F-35 program, an iffy threat at best. It says that spending on a second engine is unnecessary and impedes the progress of the Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force’s multi-mission fighter of the future. By including the funding in the final measure Thursday, lawmakers signaled the White House the light regard in which they held its vaguely worded veto threat.”I would be stunned if they vetoed,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said following Thursday’s vote.GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt enjoys a cozy relationship with the president and was named to Obama’s economic advisory board in early February. The federal government and GE have also embarked on several co-ventures, including the development of new health care technologies and clean-energy alternatives.The legislation recommends $560 million for the program in 2010. The second engine would be built by GE and Rolls-Royce here in Massachusetts as well as Ohio, Indiana and other states.The main F-35 engine is built in Connecticut by Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. The Pentagon has insisted that the Pratt & Whitney engine is performing well, despite some disappointing tests recently, and that the second engine adds unnecessary costs and would delay the program. Supporters of the program say it provides competition that would boost contractors’ performance and tamp down costs.The Senate cleared the House-Senate compromise measure by 68-29 – better than the two-thirds majority needed to override any presidential veto. However, the House of Representatives passed the compromise bill on Oct. 8 by 281-146, five votes shy of a two-thirds majority. Both houses of Congress must enjoy the two-thirds edge to overturn a veto – a rare occurrence on Capitol Hill.The $680 billion measure doesn’t actually fund the Pentagon’s budget but provides policy guidance that is typically followed closely by the appropriations committees.GOP Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma blasted the measure for calling for just a 4 percent boost in Pentagon funding.”The bill is the beginning of a downward spiral in defense spending,” Inhofe said. “We have reached a crossroads and have chosen not to invest in the long-term modernization and readiness of our military.”Some Pentagon reform advocates had hoped Obama would take a more aggressive stance against cost