COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:

California’s unemployment rate has hit 9.3%. Now more than ever we need to focus on keeping Californians employed. I am urging our Congressional delegation and President Obama to continue funding the nation’s F-22 Raptor fighter jet program.

Vital programs with proven success deserve support.

Operational since December 2007, the nation’s growing fleet of F-22s is gradually replacing aging F-15s. The F-22 is the most advanced fighter aircraft in existence, capable of maintaining air superiority over other aircraft and evading advanced surface-to-air missiles.

The U.S. Air Force’s fleet of F-22s now numbers more than 130 planes, with the current program-of-record slated for 183. Independent military experts have recommended that at least 260 F-22s be produced to replace F-15s and maintain our nation’s security.

But the F-22 program could be stopped cold if Obama fails to release funds allocated for additional production. The funding has already been budgeted, but under law Obama must “certify” the procurement by March 1 or end production, based on his assessment of the national interest.

In the late 1980s billions of dollars were invested in research, development and testing — and the first production model of the F-22 was delivered in 2003.

It is now, during production, that we reap the benefits of our investment. But this financial investment — as well as years of dedicated work by thousands of American engineers and technicians — will go to waste if the program is canceled.

The Obama administration will best serve the American people by seeking sensible reductions in government programs — and eliminating programs that do not work. But the F-22 program has not only resulted in the world’s most advanced fighter jet; it is also a model of government procurement. The F-22 has kept to its projected budget and production has remained on schedule. The Boeing facility in Huntington Beach, which employs good paying and highly skilled union and non-union workers, helped design the F-22’s wings and fuselage and participates in their production.

Nationally tens of thousands of jobs are provided by the F-22 program. California’s aerospace and defense industries underwent large-scale changes at the end of the Cold War. Thousands lost their jobs — but brought their skills and ideas to other parts of our economy. Though this upheaval was painful, it did not dismantle our nation’s ability to remain the leading developer of defense technologies. It would be shameful to relinquish this leadership position in a hasty and misguided reaction to the current economic crisis.

TOM HARMAN is a state senator representing District 35.