[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 189 (Monday, December 14, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H14844-H14845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            KC-X COMPETITION

  (Mr. DICKS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DICKS. Madam Speaker, America's workers and America's industries 
have never shied away from competition. Our readiness to compete is a 
part of who we are. It is a driver that has been fundamental to our 
Nation's success.
  However, competition must be fair if it is to serve us well. This 
evening, I

[[Page H14845]]

rise to draw attention to a fundamentally unfair competition that our 
Department of Defense seems intent on pursuing: the competition for the 
Air Force's KC-X tanker program.
  One of the proposals for this solicitation will be based on an Airbus 
A330 aircraft. This aircraft received $5.7 billion in government 
subsidies that the World Trade Organization has ruled to be in 
violation of the rules that the WTO nations have agreed to. In total, 
Airbus platforms have received over $15 billion that the WTO has found 
to be illegal, agreeing with the complaint filed by the U.S. Government 
in 2004. These subsidies have contributed to a 40 percent decline in 
U.S. market share for commercial aircraft and the loss of thousands of 
jobs. Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas are no longer in the business.
  In spite of this record, the Department of Defense stubbornly refuses 
to include any provision in the tanker solicitation that accounts for 
these subsidies. This simply isn't right.

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