BOSTON (AP) – Several U.S. senators including John Kerry and Scott Brown of Massachusetts are appealing to the Senate Appropriations Committee to maintain funding for an alternative engine for the Pentagon’s next-generation warplane.

The House voted Wednesday to eliminate $450 million for the alternative engine for the F-35 fighter jet.

The vote was part of an effort by House Republicans to cut $61 billion in federal spending in the current fiscal year.

A letter sent Friday to Appropriations Committee chairman Daniel Inouye and vice chairman Thad Cochran says the alternative engine deserves continued funding because it would inject competition into the F-35 program.

The engine is being jointly by General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce, with some of the production expected to be performed at GE’s aviation facility in Lynn.

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