Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.) won approval for her “lift the ban on F-22 export sales” amendment to the House version of the Fiscal 2007 defense appropriations bill. The amendment, which would delete the section that “prohibits funds in the bill from being used to approve or license the sale of the [F-22] advanced tactical fighter to any foreign government,” passed by voice vote. Granger’s district houses Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics division.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.