The World - News from May 11, 1989

Facing blistering attacks by several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and other Bush Administration officials defended a proposal to co-produce the FSX fighter jet with Japan. The panel is considering a resolution to disapprove the deal, estimated at $8 billion. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) denounced the FSX program as “a bad deal for America” that will be “the laboratory and training ground for the design, production, avionics and other engineering talent necessary to build a world-class Japanese civilian aircraft industry.” However, Cheney told the committee that Japan will not have unrestricted access to U.S. aviation technology. A two-thirds majority in both houses--considered unlikely--would be required to override a presidential veto.