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IAM International President Bob Martinez sent a letter urging members of Congress to show support for the F-35 program.
Click here to read Martinez’s letter
“Since its inception, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been proudly built by IAM members and is our nation’s only 5th Generation stealth aircraft currently in production,” said Martinez. “The F-35 is the key to future air superiority for all three U.S. Services and our most important allies across the globe. Ramping up needed production is the quickest way to drive down unit costs.
“The positive economic impact of the F-35 program continues to grow. This mature program supports more than 45,000 direct and over 125,000 indirect American jobs at approximately 1,400 suppliers across the nation; this results in an annual economic impact to the U.S. of over $24 billion. Importantly, these numbers are expected to increase as production increases in the coming years.”
Reps. John Larson (D-CT) and Tom Rooney (R-FL) spearheaded an effort with 69 other colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter requesting members of the Defense Appropriations Committees to support the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Defense budget amendment and FY18 National Defense Authorization and Defense Appropriations bills for the F-35 program.
