[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10065-10066]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                TANKERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor late this 
afternoon to express my concern with the United States Air Force's 
decision to award the $35 billion contract to build the next generation 
of aerial refueling tankers to a foreign-led consortium of companies 
over a proposal put forth by American-based Boeing.
  As I stand here today, Americans across the country are hopefully 
receiving in the mail our effort to stimulate the U.S. economy, that 
$600 check. Why, during this time when we're trying to address the 
issue of our economy and create jobs, is our government outsourcing a 
multi-billion dollar tanker contract to a foreign company instead of 
creating those jobs here in America?
  The Air Force's selection of European Aeronautic Defence and Space 
will lead to about 19,000 aerospace jobs in Europe. This decision has a 
significant impact, of course, in my home State of Kansas. Boeing's 
finishing and test center for tankers would take place in Wichita. 
Throughout the State, local suppliers would provide support services 
and parts for Boeing. In Kansas alone, Boeing's proposal would create 
or sustain 3,800 jobs and $145 million annually, important investments 
that Europe now stands to gain.
  Not only is the Air Force's decision a blow to American jobs, it's 
bad for our servicemembers and bad for the American taxpayer. Now that 
we've had a chance to look at the Air Force's analysis, we see how 
badly flawed the tanker selection competition was. The result is that 
the Air Force chose a tanker that is higher cost, higher risk, less 
capable, less survivable, and less efficient.
  Boeing has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office. 
I have listened to the explanation of the Air Force and the Department 
of Defense officials and I remain unconvinced that this was a fair 
competition. And so we now eagerly await GAO's results later this 
summer.

[[Page 10066]]

  In the meantime, the Air Force's decision has raised questions that 
Congress should address. How does this decision impact America's 
economic security? How does it impact our military security? What are 
the national security effects of outsourcing critical military work to 
France and other foreign countries that often oppose our country's 
foreign policy? Should the Department of Defense's procurement process 
take into account billions of WTO-disputed foreign subsidies that give 
foreign manufacturers heavily weighted advantage in these competitions?
  Air Force refueling tankers allow our military to operate around the 
world. In this day and age, the importance of modernizing our aging 
tanker fleet with the best available option cannot be overstated. In 
the coming weeks and months, I urge my colleagues in Congress to work 
to ensure that the right choice is made for Americans and America's 
military men and women.

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