Congressional appropriators move to tie up F-35 deliveries to Turkey
The new House foreign aid bill would prohibit spending federal dollars to transfer the jets unless Ankara abandons its plans to buy missile defenses from Moscow.
Congress is turning to the power of the purse in its efforts to force Turkey to choose between the US F-35 jet and a Russian missile-defense system.
The House foreign aid spending panel last week advanced annual spending legislation that would prohibit the Donald Trump administration from transferring the fifth-generation stealth aircraft to Turkey unless Secretary of State Mike Pompeo certifies that Ankara has scrapped plans to buy the S-400 from Russia. Lawmakers in both chambers have previously sought to block the F-35 sale as stand-alone bills, but including the language in the foreign aid spending package increases the likelihood that it will become US law.
Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, joined Reps. Paul Cook, R-Calif., and John Garamendi, D-Calif., to introduce legislation blocking the sale earlier this month: the Protecting NATO Skies Act. Senate foreign aid panel members James Lankford, R-Okla., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have introduced the same bill in the upper chamber.
“Turkey is choosing to jeopardize its F-35 partner status for dealings with the Russian Federation,” Turner said in a statement introducing the bill. “It is imperative that we prevent our superior F-35 capabilities from falling into the wrong hands.”
