[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 10, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5161-H5162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AERONAUTICS INDUSTRY FACING IMPORTANT CHALLENGES AFFECTING AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I come tonight to address an emerging issue 
that Congress is going to need to deal with, and that is the challenges 
to one of our most important industries in America, and that is the 
aeronautics industry.
  Right now this portion of our economy from an export standpoint is 
probably the most successful in our economy, and a large percentage of 
our export surplus, to the extent it exists, arises from our exports of 
airplanes. The company, largely located in my neck of the woods in 
Washington State, Boeing, is the largest net exporter of products in 
our country and is the largest contributor to a potential surplus that 
we have; and it has over 150,000 employees and 26,000 suppliers that 
are located in all 50 States. This is an industry of enormous 
importance to our trade balance and to job creation in this Nation.
  But unfortunately, because of the untoward practices of some European 
nations associated with Airbus, that industry is threatened; and it is 
threatened because contrary to well-accepted trading rules in a rules-
based trading relationship, Airbus is taking advantage of a significant 
number of national subsidies for their program.

[[Page H5162]]

Among those are a state-sponsored loan program which has significantly 
reduced the cost of financing for Airbus development, and that can lead 
to up to as much as $26 billion in additional benefits to Airbus. In 
addition, they have received subsidies for their research and 
development costs; and of course, in the development of airliners, R&D 
is of tremendous importance to the ultimate cost of a product.
  It appears clear that these subsidies, in fact, have continued, 
despite our efforts, our assiduous efforts to try and, in fact, 
maintain a rules-based trading system. And that now has to stop. The 
competition, the unlawful, the illegal competition that we have been 
facing due to these subsidies can no longer stand. And the United 
States Government needs to take a more aggressive policy to, in some 
sense, restore balance and fairness to this trading relationship.
  In the next several weeks, my colleagues and me will be discussing 
the appropriate way to do that. Various means are at our disposal. We 
can consider trade efforts in an attempt to convince our partners in 
Europe to, in fact, respect a rules-based trading system and end these 
unlawful subsidies to this sector of the economy, with whom we are 
happy to compete under a rules-based system. We also may consider, in 
fact, assisting in the research and development in the technology to 
benefit America, and certainly in our energy policy. Many of us think 
that while we are assisting the development of an energy policy, we 
should assist the development of the most energy-efficient jet the 
world has ever seen, which we hope to be the 77 manufactured by Boeing.
  So there are a variety of measures; but in some fashion, it is now 
time for America to get serious to insist on a rules-based trading 
system, one that can allow the best technologically efficient product 
to emerge so that the marketplace can choose, rather than having 
governments interfere with that process. And unfortunately, our 
European partners have muddied about in that system and governments 
have interfered in the functioning of this marketplace. That is 
something we have tolerated now for quite a number of years. It is no 
longer subject to toleration.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for America to become serious and engage in 
resolving this problem, and I will be working with my colleagues in the 
upcoming weeks to make sure that the rules are fair and applicable and 
assist the United States aeronautics industry.

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