Senator Cornyn Seeks to Trump Obama on Lockheed F-16 Taiwan Sale
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said he is prepared to write legislation seeking to force President Barack Obama to go through with the sale of Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan.
“There is broad support in Congress for F-16 sales to Taiwan and, if the administration does not do the right thing, then we will look for an option to change that through legislation,” Cornyn said in a short interview today.
The Obama administration has committed to deciding by Oct. 1 whether to allow the sale of 66 F-16s to Taiwan. Cornyn, who is a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he is concerned the White House will sideline that deal after pressure from China not to sell arms to Taiwan.
“I am increasingly concerned that we are going to stiff our key ally Taiwan,” Cornyn said. “We could force the president’s hand and make him veto it or not as the case may be.”
Cornyn said he is worried that denying the sale would “also hurt our domestic manufacturing facility right here in the United States where jobs are in short supply.”
Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland, builds the F- 16 jet in Fort Worth, Texas. The company has about 2,300 people building the F-16. Without the sale to Taiwan, orders for the fighter jet may continue the production through 2013.
China opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province, and has tried to block sales of the F-16 airplanes to the island. Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou and Taiwan’s supporters in Congress have pressed the U.S. administration to approve the sale.
The last significant U.S. arms sale to Taiwan was in October 2008 when President George W. Bush’s administration proposed a $6.46 billion package including Patriot anti-missile systems and Apache helicopters, to help the country bring its military up to date. China retaliated by curtailing military exchanges with the U.S.
To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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