Defense industry finds few old friends on Hill

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/defense-industry-finds-few-old-friends-on-hill-87991.html#ixzz2LvNrS4ev



Defense industry finds few old friends on Hill
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and ANNA PALMER | 2/24/13 3:36 PM EST

The defense industry is in the fight of its life, but many of its longtime champions on Capitol Hill are retired, dead or in jail.

Of the 30 largest House recipients of defense industry campaign donations since the 1990 election cycle, only 11 are still serving in Congress, according to a POLITICO analysis of federal data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. It’s the same story in the Senate, where 14 of the top 30 recipients over the same time period still serve.

And many observers admit that the remaining industry defenders aren’t the defense giants who once walked the halls of Congress.

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Even as the defense contracting industry knows it’s going to shrink, political action committees and individuals connected to the firms are giving more than ever to congressional candidates. Campaign donations from aerospace big guns Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and others totaled a record $27 million for the 2012 election cycle, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.