Rep. Tom Rooney (bottom right) will be facing off against senior members of the Armed Services Committee as he attempts to cut funding for an alternate fighter engine.
Kennedy added that part of the reason the stakes are so high is because the new F-35 is slated to replace about 90 percent of the country’s single-engine fighter planes.
“Emotions run high on this,” said one lobbyist involved in the fight on Pratt’s side. “It really gets people’s blood boiling.”
Rooney, a former prosecutor, said the alternate engine debate often triggers passion, but he pledged to stay calm.
“I’m not trying to be combative,” he said. “Once you lose your cool, then you’ve lost your argument.”
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