Press Releases

Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following letter calling for the National Defense Authorization Act to include language that will require the Department of Defense to take into account the illegal subsidies that Airbus has received from European governments when it awards a contract for the next generation of aerial refueling tankers.  The World Trade Organization has ruled that Airbus received billions in illegal subsidies to develop the A330 airframe, on which the Airbus tanker is based.  The letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee will be sent after Representative Larsen gives his colleagues an opportunity to sign it.  Leadership of the House of Representatives and Senate are working to pass a National Defense Authorization Act before Congress adjourns.  

“Congress needs to act to force the Department of Defense to stop ignoring the illegal subsidies that Airbus has received from European governments,” said Rep. Larsen. “This session of Congress is coming to an end, but I am not stopping my fight to make sure that Boeing workers build the next generation of tankers for our military.”

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Chairman Skelton and Ranking Member McKeon:

As you complete work on the Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, we write to express our support for language to ensure a fair competition for the Air Force tanker contract.  We urge you to include section 848 of H.R. 5136, which requires the Department of Defense to take into account the impact of illegal subsidies on the KC-X tanker competition.

Specifically, section 848 requires the Department of Defense, when awarding a contract for the KC-X aerial refueling program, to consider any unfair competitive advantage that an offeror may possess.  In this section, the term ‘unfair competitive advantage,’ with respect to an offer for a contract, is defined as a situation in which the cost of development, production, or manufacturing is not fully borne by the offeror for such contract.

This provision has strong bipartisan support; section 848 passed on the floor of the House as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 410-8.  We strongly urge you to retain section 848 in any final version of the Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act. 

###

Click here to read the Seattle PI coverage of where I stand.