DeLauro Fights for Fair Air Force Bidding Policies, Supports Boeing Tanker Entry

New Haven, CT – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) today attended a rally in support of the Boeing NewGen tanker, which is led in Connecticut by Pratt Whitney. The NewGen tanker is Boeing's entry to provide the Air Force with a new mid-air refueling tanker airplane.

The Air Force bidding process, which is being closed to entries today, is expected to end within the next few months. According to Boeing, the NewGen tanker would support approximately 50,000 jobs in the U.S. throughout 40 states. This would translate into support for high skilled jobs throughout the state in the coming years, including in Middletown as Pratt and Whitney would provide 200 engines for the new fleet of tankers.

The Congresswoman's remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.

Thank you. Warren. It is great to be here, and thanks for inviting me to join you.

Thanks to Warren, president of military engines here at Pratt, for hosting us today, and to Chuck Woods of Boeing for joining us. And, of course, thanks to Jim Parent and all the hard-working employees of Pratt and members of the IAM Locals.

Let me thank my colleagues John Larson and Joe Courtney for their leadership and support of our state's high-tech defense-manufacturing industry.

I am here to voice my strong and unequivocal support of Boeing's NewGen Tanker bid. The reasons this should happen are as plain as day. This is a contract that would bring tens of thousands of jobs to America (50,000). It will mean 200 new engines produced by Pratt right here in Connecticut, which will create hundreds of jobs for Connecticut workers and suppliers, and will have an estimated $339 million annual economic impact on our state.

The right decision for the Department of Defense to make on this tanker contract should be self-evident. We can give a $35 billion contract for the next-generation tanker to an American company, Boeing, and unleash the positive economic impact I just described right here at home. Or we can give the contract to a European company, Airbus/EADS, thus creating tens of thousands of jobs in Europe instead. This is a no-brainer.

If this was not already an easy call, I can make the right decision even clearer. As the WTO's final ruling, released last week, describes in full, we now know that Airbus has been provided $15 billion in illegal subsides from European governments – subsidies which have cost us an estimated 65,000 U.S. aerospace jobs.

Myself, Congressman Larsen, Joe Courtney, Jay Inslee, and Todd Tiahrt co-led the passage of an amendment to the 2011 defense authorization bill last May that requires the Department of Defense to consider these unfair competitive advantages when awarding the Tanker contract. This amendment passed overwhelmingly – 410-8 – because, on both sides of the aisle, we know we should be supporting American businesses, American jobs, and the basic principles of fair competition.

In fact, DoD has bent over backwards to be fair to Airbus in their decision-making process. We are here today partly because DoD extended their deadline by sixty days, to today, to allow Airbus time to complete a new bid after Northrop-Grumman pulled out.

Now – when every job we can create and retain in America provides one more opportunity for workers and their families to get back on their feet – now is not the time to make decisions that would cost America so many high-skilled manufacturing jobs.

We simply cannot continue to allow our foreign competitors to maintain an unfair economic advantage, and erode our important domestic defense manufacturing base here in America. We should not cede our advanced technology capabilities to European nations. We should not outsource our national security.

It is in our national economic and security interests for the Department of Defense to award this contract to Boeing. And it is in the strong interests of Connecticut.

Today we have reached a crucial juncture in this process. To quote a fellow who knew a thing or two about the importance of air power, Sir Winston Churchill, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

At this juncture, I urge the Pentagon to do right by American workers, and to grant this contract to Boeing, to Pratt & Whitney, and to the hard-working engineers, laborers, and machinists ready to do great work right here in Connecticut. For so many reasons, it is the right thing to do.

Thank you.