Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, signaled Tuesday that he is giving serious consideration to a proposal that would split the lucrative contract to build the Air Force's next fleet of aerial refueling tankers between the two rivals vying for the work. Inouye, who also chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, told reporters that he plans to hold subcommittee hearings on the proposal, which has been publicly pushed by key House Democrats but soundly rejected by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS, the European consortium behind Airbus, won the $35 billion deal last year to build 179...