WASHINGTON AND LOS ANGELES — Boeing Co.'s C-17 cargo plane, assembled in Long Beach and in a fight for survival in the nation's Capitol, gained the support of the House on Thursday but faces political head winds in the Senate. It is one of the first budget showdowns between President Obama and Congress.
In a victory for the aerospace giant, the House included $2.2 billion for eight more C-17s in a war-spending bill.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has called for ending production once the last plane on order rolls off the Long Beach assembly line in 2011 as part of a sweeping Pentagon spending reform push.
The Senate Appropriations Committee, in a separate action, provided no money for additional C-17s. But the plane's supporters had cause to hope after the committee chairman's response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who pleaded for funding.
"The senator has good reason to be optimistic," said Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), suggesting money for the plane was likely to be forthcoming. "I have been and remain a strong supporter of the C-17 program, and I am committed to finding a responsible way to maintain the program."
The Senate is expected to take up the bill next week. Once it acts, House and Senate negotiators will reconcile differences between the bills.
The last major military aircraft produced in Southern California, once a center of the aerospace industry, the C-17 stands a good chance of surviving the budget ax because of a political constituency as strong as its engines.
The fight is seen as a key test of Obama's budget-cutting efforts in the face of lawmakers looking out for their home-state interests.
"Once they get used to overriding the president, they'll keep doing it," Loren Thompson, military policy analyst for the Lexington Institute, said of Congress.
The plane, in production since the early 1990s, has the backing of odd bedfellows, from liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to conservative Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.). A key reason: Its aircraft parts come from more than 650 suppliers in 43 states.
"Parochial interests rule," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who supports ending C-17 production.
The plane's landing gear comes from Cleveland; its cockpit, nose and cargo ramp and door from St. Louis; engines from Connecticut; avionics from Binghamton, N.Y.; tail sections and engine coverings from Dallas; seats from Phoenix; and so on.
