[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 173 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10960-S10961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Defense Level Playing Field Act
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise this afternoon to call on the
Senate to move and pass H.R. 6540, which is the Defense Level Playing
Field Act, a bill which was passed overwhelmingly by the House of
Representatives yesterday.
This is a bill that is identical to a bipartisan provision I have
introduced here in the Senate with Senators Brownback, Cantwell, and
others from States that know the value of American aerospace. It is a
bill that will require the Pentagon to take into account illegal
subsidies to foreign companies in our country, and that will finally
deliver an even playing field in our procurement process.
But above all, this is a jobs bill. It is about protecting skilled,
family-wage jobs, manufacturing jobs, and engineering jobs--jobs with
technical skills and expertise that are passed down from one generation
to the next; jobs that not only support our families during a very
difficult economic time but are also helping to keep our communities
above water. These are jobs in communities in Kansas, in Connecticut,
in California, and in my home State of Washington. They are jobs that
support small businesses, they pay people's mortgages, and they create
economic opportunity. These jobs right now are at risk. Why? Because of
illegal subsidies that undercut our workers and create an uneven
playing field for America's aerospace workers.
This is a commonsense, straightforward way to protect American
aerospace jobs from unfairly subsidized European competition. It is a
bill that specifically targets a major job-creating project--the Air
Force's aerial refueling tanker contract--as a place where we can begin
to restore fairness for our aerospace workers. This bill says that in
awarding that critical tanker contract, the Pentagon must consider any
unfair competitive advantage aerospace companies have, and there is no
bigger unfair advantage right now in the world of international
aerospace than launch aid.
As my colleagues may know, launch aid is direct funding that has been
provided to the European aerospace company Airbus from the treasuries
of European governments. It is what supports their factories and their
workers and their airplanes. It is what allows them to price their
airplanes far below those that are made here in the United States and
still turn a profit. It is what allows them to literally role the dice
and lose on a product and what separates them from American aerospace
companies, such as Boeing, that bet the company on each new airplane
line they produce. In short, it is what allows them to stack the decks
against American workers.
In July of this year, the World Trade Organization handed down a
ruling in a case that the United States brought against the European
Union that finally called launch aid what it really is: a trade-
distorting, job-killing, unfair advantage. That is what the WTO said.
It is one of our Nation's most important trade cases to date. The WTO
ruled very clearly that launch aid is illegal, it creates an uneven
playing field, it has harmed American workers and companies, and it
needs to end.
Specifically, the WTO found that European governments have provided
Airbus with more than 15 billion Euros in launch aid, subsidizing every
model of aircraft ever produced by Airbus in the last 40 years,
including, by the way, the A330--the very model they are now putting
forward in the tanker competition. The WTO ruled that France and
Germany and Spain provided more than 1 billion Euros in infrastructure
and infrastructure-related grants between 1989 and 2001, as well as
another billion in share transfers and equity infusions into Airbus.
They ruled that European governments provided over 1 billion in Euros
in funding between 1986 and 2005 for research and development directed
specifically to the development of Airbus aircraft. In fact, the
Lexington Institute states that launch aid represents over $200 billion
in today's dollars in total subsidies to Airbus.
Launch aid has very real consequences. It has created an uphill
battle for our American workers and American aerospace as a whole.
Because of launch aid, our workers are now not only competing against
rival companies, they are competing against the treasuries of European
governments. At the end of the day, that has
[[Page S10961]]
meant lost jobs at our American aerospace companies and suppliers and
the communities that support them.
I have been speaking out against Europe's market-distorting actions
for many years because I understand that these subsidies are not only
illegal, they are deeply unfair and anticompetitive.
My home State of Washington is, of course, home to much of our
country's aerospace industry, and I know our workers are the best in
the world. On a level playing field, they can compete and win against
absolutely anybody. But, unfortunately, Airbus and the European Union
have refused to allow fair competition. Instead, they use their
aerospace industry as a government-funded jobs program, and they use
billions in illegal launch aid to fund it.
So let me be clear about one thing. The objective of this bill that
was passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives yesterday is
not to limit competition; it is to make sure everyone can compete on a
level playing field. Airbus has made it clear they will go to any
lengths to hurt our country's aerospace industry. We need to make it
clear we will take every action to stop them because this is not only
about the future of aerospace; it is about jobs right now that will
help our economy recover. In fact, as we look at ways to stimulate job
growth and keep American companies innovating and growing, we shouldn't
look any further than this bill.
This bill is a commonsense policy. It makes sure U.S. Government
policy translates to Pentagon policy because the fact is that the U.S.
Government, through our Trade Representative, has taken the position
that Airbus subsidies are illegal and unfair. Yet, on the other hand,
the U.S. Department of Defense is ignoring that position as we look to
purchase a new tanker fleet, and that does not make any sense--not for
our country, not for our military, and certainly not for our workers.
The WTO made a fair decision. Airbus subsidies are illegal and
anticompetitive. Now the Department of Defense needs to take that
ruling into account.
When I go home and talk to our aerospace workers in Washington State,
I want to be able to tell them we have evened the stakes. I want them
to know their government is not looking the other way as policies
continue to undercut their jobs and their opportunities. I want them to
know that while they are working to secure our country by producing the
best airplane in the world, their government is doing everything it can
to make sure fair opportunities are there that will keep them on the
job.
It is time to take these job-killing subsidies into account. It is
the right thing to do for our workers, for our economy, and the future
of our airspace industry.