McCain may vote against defense bill--concerns over F-35

Senator McCain still isn't happy with the defense bill as it goes through the system. He wants a stronger meassure to control the money spent on the F-35. He wants a provision put in the defense bill which states that if the F-35 program doesn't show stronger improvements, that it should be put on probation and that next year's money slated for the program should be available to fund closing it down.

The senator says his amendment on the F-35, which could start a process for killing the Pentagon’s largest weapons system, is critical to eliminating waste at the Pentagon (Aerospace DAILY, June 22).

“If we fail to act now, continuing cost overruns on the F-35 of the kind we have experienced over the last 10 years will siphon off precious resources and put at risk every other major defense procurement program,” McCain says, adding his amendment would be an answer to the problem. “We simply can’t stand by and let that happen.”