[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S13243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BOEING DREAMLINER

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I know we are in the middle of a health 
care debate and I know we are focused on health care and we will be 
talking about that for several days, but I rise to congratulate the 
people of Washington State and the country on the 787 Dreamliner flight 
that took off from Paine Field, WA, just a few hours ago. Some people 
might think of that as just going to YouTube and looking at the video 
and seeing a plane take off and what is the significance. I tell you, 
there is great significance, not just for the State of Washington but 
for the country because this plane is a unique plane. It is a game 
changer as far as the market is concerned. But it is American 
innovation at its best. This plane, built now with 50 percent composite 
materials, is going to be a 20-percent more fuel-efficient plane. That 
is significant for our country. It is significant because it means the 
United States can still be a leader in manufacturing and it can still 
deal with something as complex as fuel efficiency in aviation.
  What is prideful for us as Americans is, this is about American 
innovation at its best. What would Bill Boeing say about today? He 
would say we achieved another milestone, where we faced international 
competition. Yet the United States can still be a manufacturer. We can 
still build a product, still compete, and still win because we are 
innovating with aviation.
  To the thousands of workers in the Boeing Company and in Puget Sound 
I say: Congratulations for your hard work--for the planning and 
implementation of taking manufacturing from aerospace with aluminum 
that had been the status quo for decades, to developing an entirely new 
plane, 50 percent with the new material.
  I want the United States to continue to be a manufacturer, to still 
build products, to still say we can compete. So I applaud the name 
Dreamliner. Somebody in that company had a dream, and today it got 
launched when it took off from that runway. I wish to say that is the 
innovative spirit that has made this country great and that is the 
innovative spirit in which we need to invest.

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