(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement after the Air
Force’s top acquisition official, Lieutenant General Mark Shackelford, said
that the aerial refueling tanker award date will be delayed. The announced
delay comes a little more than one month after Pentagon officials denied that
their decision to allow Airbus extra time to bid would delay the award
date.
“It’s now clear that the
Pentagon is playing games. Just last month, after delaying this contract to
allow an illegally subsidized foreign competitor to bid, the Pentagon assured
us that the extra time would not delay the
contract. But as we have found out today, those promises were all smoke and
mirrors.
“The truth is that the
Pentagon’s plans to bend over backwards for Airbus will mean another delay at
the expense of our men and women in uniform, American workers, and our economy.
“It’s time for the Pentagon to
come clean. It’s time for them to admit to the fact that by making concession
after concession to a company that has had ample time to bid they are slowing
this process down. It’s time to stop changing the rules for a company
that refuses to play by them. American workers and our service members deserve
better than the runaround.”
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