[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 41 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3401-S3402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           AIRBUS LAUNCH AID

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the clerk 
will report S. Con. Res. 25 by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 25) expressing the 
     sense of Congress regarding the application of Airbus for 
     launch aid.

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There 
is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the concurrent resolution. The clerk 
will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi) and the Senator from Alaska (Ms. 
Murkowski).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin) and 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 88 Leg.]

                                YEAS--96

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Dayton
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Enzi
     Harkin
     Lautenberg
     Murkowski
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 25) was agreed to, as 
follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 25

       Whereas Airbus is currently the leading manufacturer of 
     large civil aircraft, with a full fleet of aircraft and more 
     than 50 percent global market share;
       Whereas Airbus has received approximately $30,000,000,000 
     in market distorting subsidies from European governments, 
     including launch aid, infrastructure support, debt 
     forgiveness, equity infusions, and research and development 
     funding;
       Whereas these subsidies, in particular launch aid, have 
     lowered Airbus' development costs and shifted the risk of 
     aircraft development to European governments, and thereby 
     enabled Airbus to develop aircraft at an accelerated pace and 
     sell these aircraft at prices and on terms that would 
     otherwise be unsustainable;
       Whereas the benefit of these subsidies to Airbus is 
     enormous, including, at a minimum, the avoidance of 
     $35,000,000,000 in debt as a result of launch aid's 
     noncommercial interest rate;
       Whereas over the past 5 years, Airbus has gained 20 points 
     of world market share and 45 points of market share in the 
     United States, all at the expense of Boeing, its only 
     competitor;

[[Page S3402]]

       Whereas this dramatic shift in market share has had a 
     tremendous impact, resulting in the loss of over 60,000 high-
     paying United States aerospace jobs;
       Whereas on October 6, 2004, the United States Trade 
     Representative filed a complaint at the World Trade 
     Organization on the basis that all of the subsidies that the 
     European Union and its Member States have provided to Airbus 
     violate World Trade Organization rules;
       Whereas on January 11, 2005, the European Union agreed to 
     freeze the provision of launch aid and other government 
     support and negotiate with a view to reaching a 
     comprehensive, bilateral agreement covering all government 
     supports in the large civil aircraft sector;
       Whereas the Bush administration has shown strong leadership 
     and dedication to bring about a fair resolution during the 
     negotiations;
       Whereas Airbus received $6,200,000,000 in government 
     subsidies to build the A380;
       Whereas Airbus has now committed to develop and produce yet 
     another new model, the A350, even before the A380 is out of 
     the development phase;
       Whereas Airbus has stated that it does not need launch aid 
     to build the A350, but has nevertheless applied for and 
     European governments are prepared to provide $1,700,000,000 
     in new launch aid; and
       Whereas European governments are apparently determined to 
     target the United States aerospace sector and Boeing's 
     position in the large civil aircraft market by providing 
     Airbus with continuing support to lower its costs and reduce 
     its risk: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) European governments should reject Airbus' pending 
     application for launch aid for the A350 and any future 
     applications for launch aid;
       (2) the European Union, acting for itself and on behalf of 
     its Member States, should renew its commitment to the terms 
     agreed to on January 11, 2005;
       (3) the United States Trade Representative should request 
     the formation of a World Trade Organization dispute 
     resolution panel at the earliest possible opportunity if 
     there is no immediate agreement to eliminate launch aid for 
     the A350 and all future models and no concrete progress 
     toward a comprehensive bilateral agreement covering all 
     government supports in the large aircraft sector; and
       (4) the President should take any additional action the 
     President considers appropriate to protect the interests of 
     the United States in fair competition in the large commercial 
     aircraft market.

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