Bennet Statement on Vote Against Wasteful Spending on F-22 Program

Press Release

Bennet Statement on Vote Against Wasteful Spending on F-22 Program

Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, released the following statement today after voting against unnecessary, additional funding for the Air Force's F-22 program. The Department of Defense has 187 F-22 fighters and has asked that Congress eliminate funding for additional planes and phase out production by 2011.

In an effort to ensure efficient use of Colorado taxpayer dollars, Bennet voted today to eliminate $1.75 billion in additional funding for the F-22 program from the Defense Authorization bill. The amendment to the bill was introduced by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Ranking Member John McCain.

"If the Department of Defense isn't asking for it, and it's not helping our mission, then why are we forcing taxpayers to pay for more F-22 fighter jets? At a cost of $351 million per aircraft, the F-22 is the most expensive fighter jet in history, yet it has not supported a single mission in Iraq or Afghanistan," said Bennet.

"We have enough F-22s. We have too much government waste. I agree with President Obama and Senator McCain that this is $1.7 billion that could be put to better use."

Last week, Bennet gave a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate highlighting the need to protect Colorado and American taxpayers from additional wasteful spending on the F-22 fighter jet program.

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