Senate Beats Back Military-Industrial Complex In Historic Vote
First Posted: 07-21-09 02:40 PM | Updated: 07-21-09 05:32 PM
HuffPost- Ryan Grim
President Obama won a major victory in the Senate Tuesday in a dogfight that has major, long-term implications for his agenda.
The Senate, by a vote of 58-40, approved an amendment proposed by Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to strip $1.75 billion in funding for the F-22 fighter. Levin worked hand in hand to kill the F-22 money with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
“There was an extensive effort by the White House,” said Levin. “The president really needed to win this vote, not just in terms of the merits of the F-22 issue itself, but in terms of the reform agenda.”
The vote had become a proxy fight against the power of the military-industrial complex, a term coined by President Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell address.
“It’s What Eisenhower Warned us About,” tweeted McCain before the vote. The F-22s have not been used in Iraq or Afghanistan and military experts agree they’re not suited for American campaigns, yet lobbying and regional concerns have kept the program funded year after year. The victory over the military-industrial complex is arguably its most significant setback since World War II. For McCain, it was “probably the most impactful amendment that I have seen in this body on almost any issue.”
“Up until the last couple hours, this vote was in doubt,” McCain said. “And so I’d like to give credit to the president for being very firm on this issue and to the Secretary of Defense, who gave as strong a speech as I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Obama had threatened to veto any bill that authorized the F-22 funding.
Forty-two Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, joined 15 Republicans to defeat the F-22.
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