Murray: Aerospace is crucial

EVERETT — Keeping the aerospace industry strong
in Washington state isn’t just a regional issue, it’s a matter of
national security, Sen. Patty Murray said Tuesday.

“It’s critical
for the entire country,” said Murray, D-Wash., who spoke to the Everett
Area Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon at the Future of Flight Aviation
Center just a short distance from the Boeing Co.’s Everett plant.

Murray
said skilled workers in the industry are important to the nation’s
defense.

“We need a serious national discussion about the men and
women who produce our tanks, our planes and our boats,” she said.
“These industries are our greatest military assets.”

Noting that
China and Russia would like to replicate the success of the U.S.
aerospace industry, Murray said we can’t let ours diminish.

“When
we lose our ability to produce technology and military equipment down
the road, we won’t be able to flip a switch and bring it back,” she
said.

Murray railed against the Air Force for earlier choosing a
partnership of Northrup-Grumman and Airbus, Boeing’s European rival, to
build the next military refueling tanker. The decision was later
rescinded and the project was ordered rebid.

The new
specifications from the Air Force should be out later this summer, said
Murray, saying she’ll work to ensure they are fair and transparent.

She
also promised to continue to fight against what she called subsidies to
Airbus from European governments that she said give it an unfair
advantage. She said that Airbus right now is enlisting government money
to develop its new A350 passenger jet.

“I will not stop fighting
until this unfair and deeply damaging business practice is ordered to
cease and desist,” she said.

Murray also talked about the health
care bills in Congress, saying that if nothing is done the government
will be spending one-third of its money on health care by 2025. She said
Congress is trying to provide stable, competitive coverage for people
that “can’t be taken away” and to stabilize spiraling medical costs.

“The
status quo is the most expensive option in the long run,” she said.

Earlier
discussions of health care proposals in the Northwest drew huge crowds
of protesters. Murray’s talk to the chamber was not highly publicized.
About 130 people listened to her speech; only six protestors formed
outside the museum, four against the health care bills and two in favor. – Photo