(Washington D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA), a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, questioned
the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force about needed
improvements to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane. Murray’s questioning
sought answers to why Fairchild construction projects were left off the
Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2011 military construction budget. She also questioned the Air Force about making
Fairchild a home to the next generation of aerial refueling tankers.
Despite needed upgrades to Fairchild facilities including
base headquarters, Fairchild construction projects have largely been made
possible through investments that Murray has prioritized through the
appropriations process rather than being prioritized by the Pentagon in its
annual budget.
Fairchild
“The
President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2011 does not include any investment in
military construction at Fairchild Air Force Base. I would like to know
why. I was just at Fairchild in April and I heard directly from the base
community that there are many facilities at Fairchild in need of upgrades,
including some that aren’t sufficient to meet the needs of a 21st
century Air Force,” said Senator Murray said. “Can you explain, Mr. Secretary,
why there’s not military construction investment in Fairchild this year?”
“Very
simply we have chosen to take risk in infrastructure. We have underfunded our
MILCON [military construction] and facility infrastructure for several years
running now,” said
Secretary of Air Force Michael B. Donley.
Tanker
“I
also wanted to ask you about the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that
Airbus has received illegal, trade-distorting subsidies for years. In
particular, the WTO found that the A-330, the very airframe that Airbus plans
to put forward in the tanker competition, has been built using illegal
subsidies. I continue to be very troubled that the DoD is awarding this contract
– a taxpayer funded $35 billion competition – without accounting for the
billions of dollars in illegal subsidies received by Airbus,” said Senator Murray. “I want to know how can you
assure American taxpayers that they won’t be spending money to support an
illegally-subsidized company that one part of our Government – the USTR – has
already declared harmful to American jobs?”
“The
judgment inside the executive branch, not just the Air Force or the DoD, is
that it would not be appropriate for the department of defense in a single
contract action to take action representative of a WTO level decision,” said Secretary of Air Force Michael
B. Donley.
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