MEADS Show of Support

Six Republican lawmakers sent a letter to House Appropriations defense subcommittee Chairman Bill Young (R-FL) late last month asking to fund the Medium Extended Air Defense System at the requested level of $400 million in fiscal year 2013.

The missile defense system is under scrutiny by House authorizers who have voted to nix all MEADS funding for FY-13 in their pending legislation. Senate authorizers could follow suit later this month, given their past resistance to the program. (Whether they actually will remains to be seen. “[I]t is too early to guess what will happen in mark-up,” Senate Armed Services Committee spokeswoman Tara Andringa told us.)

House appropriators are expected to mark up the FY-13 defense spending bill this week. In their letter to Young, the six lawmakers didn't make any arguments in favor of MEADS that Pentagon leaders haven't already made. But their public show of support is noteworthy because it goes against the appearance of a program widely rejected on Capitol Hill.

The signatories on the April 20 letter are Michael Rogers (R-MI), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and Martha Roby (R-AL). Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor for MEADS, operates a facility in Huntsville, AL.

More MEADS news from this week's Inside the Army:

MEADS Report To Congress Triggers Release Of $300 Million In FY-12 Funds

Defense officials wasted no time last Monday in releasing almost $300 million for the Medium Extended Air Defense System following the submission of a congressionally mandated report only days before.