Larsen on Tankers: Administration Turns Blind Eye to Troubling Rift in U.S. Defense and Trade Policy
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amanda Mahnke
(202) 225-2605
June 26, 2008
Washington, D.C. — In May, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) -- joined by twenty six of his colleagues in the House -- sent a letter to President Bush raising concerns that the Air Force’s selection of the Airbus/ EADS consortium for the $35 billion refueling tanker contract exposes a troubling rift in U.S. trade and defense procurement policy. This week, Larsen received a response to his letter from the Pentagon. To view the full text of the Administration’s response to Larsen’s letter, click here. Larsen released the following statement today:
“The full text released yesterday of the independent GAO’s decision to sustain Boeing’s protest makes it crystal clear that Air Force needs to reopen, reevaluate and rebid the tanker contract. It is now incumbent on the Air Force to heed the GAO’s recommendations and rebid this contract. I can assure the Air Force that Congress will hold them accountable to get this done right.
“As Congress works to ensure that our American military and taxpayers get the best refueling tanker for our nation’s security, we must remember that there are problems with the Airbus/EADS tanker that go beyond the scope of the GAO’s report. These problems include the troubling rift in our nation’s trade and procurement policy that has been exposed by the Air Force’s decision.
“The Airbus/EADS tanker proposal is built on a foundation of subsidies from European taxpayers, subsidies that the U.S. government has determined are illegal and has filed a World Trade Organization case to stop. The fact that one arm of the U.S. government has selected an illegally-subsidized plane while another arm is challenging those same subsidies in the WTO puts the Administration on a collision course with itself.
“In May I sent a letter with twenty six of my colleagues raising these concerns. Unfortunately, the Administration’s response was totally inadequate.
“I will continue to work to ensure that the United States has a unified and equitable trade and procurement policy that ensures the American taxpayer does not foot the bill for foreign imports that are in clear violation of WTO rules.”
