[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13025]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         KEEP JOBS IN AMERICA!

  (Mr. FILNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, yesterday the GAO sustained a protest 
filed by Boeing Company over the Air Force's decision to award a 
lucrative contract for aerial refueling tankers to a team led by 
Northrop Grumman and the European firm behind Airbus.
  GAO's decision followed a 100-day review of the Air Force's selection 
process for the $35 billion tanker program. In the decision, GAO 
recommended that the Air Force reopen discussions with the contractors, 
obtain revised proposals and make a new decision. The Air Force was 
also directed to reimburse Boeing for the cost of the protest.
  I am very pleased, as many Members of this body are, as millions of 
people across America are, and we hope the Air Force completely rebids 
the contract. But this opens a whole bigger issue that we ought to be 
discussing.
  We need to step back, take a look at the bigger picture--the impact 
of the Defense Department contract outsourcing on American jobs. As we 
know, the American economy was founded with a base of manufacturing 
jobs. Today, it is still those jobs that keep the economy strong.
  Right now the stock market is down, the dollar is down, unemployment 
numbers are up. It doesn't take a Harvard MBA to see our economy is 
faltering because of the erosion of manufacturing jobs.
  Let's keep our jobs in America!

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