Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington
state led a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators in calling for fairness in the
competition to build the next generation of Air
Force aerial refueling tankers. In a letter
to Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, the Senators called for the
inclusion of a critical provision in the National Defense Authorization Act
that would require the Department of Defense to take into account the impact of
illegal subsidies on the KC-X tanker competition.
Senators
Murray and Cantwell are co-sponsors of a Senate
amendment that would require the Pentagon to take into account the
unfair advantage provided by illegal subsidies.
“The
simple truth is that we won’t have an even playing field in this competition
until the impact of illegal foreign subsidies are factored in,” said Senator
Murray. “The U.S. government and the World Trade Organization have both
come to the conclusion that these subsidies give Airbus a competitive advantage
and that they have cost us American jobs. Especially in this economy, the
Pentagon can’t ignore these subsidies that leave American aerospace workers
fighting an uphill battle.”
“I’ve
been calling for a level playing field all along in this competition,” said Senator
Cantwell. “We cannot have a foreign subsidized plane low-balling its bid
in a competition for one of the largest Defense contracts in U.S. history. The
Pentagon must consider the WTO ruling when deciding the tanker contract if this
is to be a fair competition.”
Senators
Sam Brownback (R-KS), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Kit Bond (R-MO), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) also signed onto the
letter.
The
following is the full text of the letter:
December 15,
2010
The Honorable Carl Levin
Chairman
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Chairman
Levin:
We
write to express our strong support for language to ensure a fair competition
for the KC-X Air Force tanker contract in the Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense
Authorization Act. Especially in this
economic climate, Congress should act to protect American aerospace jobs from
unfair competition and to restore fairness for our aerospace workers.
In
particular, we urge you to include section 848 of H.R. 5136, which was passed
by the House of Representatives on May 28, 2010. This section requires
the Department of Defense to take into account the impact of illegal subsidies
on the KC-X tanker competition. Section 848 requires the Department of
Defense, in awarding that tanker contract, to consider any unfair
competitive advantage aerospace companies may possess.
The
House of Representatives has already demonstrated strong bipartisan support for
this language. Section 848 passed in the House as an amendment to the
National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 410-8. We strongly urge
you to retain section 848 in any final version of the Fiscal Year 2011 National
Defense Authorization Act.
Thank
you for your continuing work on behalf of the men and women of the U.S. Armed
Forces. We look forward to working with you in the days ahead to pass a
defense authorization bill in this Congress that ensures a level playing field
for the Air Force KC-X tanker contract.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell
U.S. Senator Sam Brownback
U.S. Senator Pat Roberts
U.S. Senator Kit Bond
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