Senate Panel Narrowly Backs U.S.-Japan FSX Fighter Deal

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday narrowly backed a proposal for the United States and Japan to jointly develop and produce the FSX jet fighter for Japan.

The deal, estimated to be worth up to $8 billion, has generated sharp criticism on Capitol Hill over technology and economic issues.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) was among the nine committee members who voted against a resolution to disapprove the FSX deal; eight members voted for it. The vote cut across party lines.

Action then shifted to the Senate floor, where FSX opponents voiced hope they will be able to muster majority support despite their defeat in the committee.

Sen. Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.) said: “I am encouraged by the closeness of this vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which a week ago--considering the (Bush) Administration’s strong push in favor of this deal--seemed out of the question.”

During debate on the Senate floor, Dixon said that despite recent assurances that U.S. firms will receive a 40% share in the FSX project and that sensitive technology will be protected, “this is still the same old deal--a bad, bad, bad, bad deal for America.”

Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a supporter of the FSX, said he hopes that when a new agreement is negotiated several years from now covering production of the plane, those talks will be marked by a atmosphere of “mutual trust and fairness.”

A resolution of disapproval also has been introduced in the House. However, even if both plans are passed, a two-thirds majority in both houses would be needed to override a presidential veto.

General Dynamics and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries would jointly develop and produce the fighter, an advanced version of the American F-16, for use by Japan in the late 1990s. General Dynamics is based in St. Louis, but most of the FSX work would be done at its F-16 plant in Fort Worth.

Other senators speaking out against the FSX included Sen. Richard H. Bryan (D-Nev.), who said transferring U.S. aircraft technology to Japan would help that nation’s aerospace industry compete with the United States and thus amount to “sowing the seeds for a future economic disaster.”