Washington legislators condemn Air Force tanker deal

Urge President, Congress to Conduct Inquiry 

March 7, 2008

OLYMPIA – State legislators today took action to denounce last week’s Pentagon announcement awarding the Airbus Company the contract for the next generation of air-to-air refueling tanker aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. House lawmakers in Olympia are urging President Bush and the state’s congressional delegation to halt the contract and take into account the regional economic impact that relies heavily on the local aerospace industry, as well as its potential for compromising national security.

The House Community & Economic Development & Trade (CEDT) committee held a public hearing Friday morning to hear testimony on House Joint Memorial 4034 – a statement that puts the Legislature officially on record as opposed to the $35 billion contract awarded to the Toulouse, France-based company.

In addition, nearly every representative in the state House has signed on to a letter delineating the reasons behind their condemnation of the deal. 

“We are outsourcing our nation’s defense,” said Rep. Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam), testifying before the committee.  “And we’re outsourcing 44,000 good jobs. What is even more disturbing is that we’re spending tax-payer dollars to send those jobs to a company that has spent years blatantly attempting to dismantle the American aerospace industry.”

Washington State is home to the largest concentration of aerospace workers in the world with over 100,000 skilled workers and hundreds of companies producing over $36 billion in business activity.

Rep. Phyllis Kenney (D – Seattle) who chairs the CEDT committee argued that the loss of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs will have a detrimental effect on the region’s economy at a time when the state can least afford to lose those jobs.

“In the past seven years the U.S. economy has lost over three million manufacturing jobs, five million Americans have lost their health insurance, and four million - including some of our nation’s veterans - have entered poverty, stated Kenney. “As consternation rises over a looming recession, it makes no sense to outsource even more jobs and taxpayer dollars out of the state.”   

Speaker Pro-tem Jeff Morris (D – Mount Vernon) wants to make sure the state will continue to be the leading aviation cluster in North America.  “With the French teaming with the State of Alabama we have to assume they are gunning for us in competition for aerospace jobs.”

In an effort to keep Washington at the forefront of the world’s aerospace industry, lawmakers are rejuvenating a bipartisan task force that was created to keep Boeing 787 Dreamliner manufacturing in Washington State.  The new mission is to ensure the continued competitiveness of the state’s aviation and aerospace clusters.

Morris will be leading the task force that will consist of elected officials from each of the four caucuses in the legislature and gather input from aerospace industry leaders in identifying areas to bolster since the progress made from the 2003 investments.

That previous task force recognized policy, regulatory, and infrastructural deficiencies to be corrected including taxing, land use, and transportation issues. Their efforts ultimately led to the Boeing Company’s choice of the Everett plant as the facility to build the new airliner. Since then the 787 has become the most successful launch of a new commercial airplane in Boeing’s history.

Morris points to overlooked issues such as land needed for new facilities and increased access to university and skill centers as ways to support and encourage local manufacturing and engineering facilities.

The task force will convene with a one-day immersion in our current rank in competiveness in May.

The bipartisan memorial passed the CEDT committee unanimously. The House plans to pass the memorial from the Floor as the last bill before Friday’s 5 p.m. cut-off. It will then pass to the Senate to receive their approval before heading to President Bush and the state congressional delegation.