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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Sean Ramaley |
  
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Pa. House adopts Ramaley resolution
opposing U.S. defense contract to foreign entity
HARRISBURG, June 26 – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously adopted H.R. 704, introduced by state Rep. Sean Ramaley, which urges the president and Congress to reject and investigate the Pentagon's decision to award a multi-billion-dollar contract to a foreign interest.
On Feb. 29, the Air Force awarded the $40 billion contract to construct 179 mid-air refueling tankers to an alliance of Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (the parent company of Airbus) over American-based Boeing. In March, Boeing challenged the decision before the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
"The contract in question is very large, and when the full fleet is replaced, it could result in one of the largest contracts in the Air Force’s history. At a time when our economy is slowing, people are facing unemployment and losing their homes to foreclosure, and cost of everyday living expenses, like food and gasoline, are crushing our citizens. Preference for this lucrative contract should be given to a domestic corporation in accordance with federal law," said Ramaley, D-Beaver/Allegheny.
The federal government enacted the Buy America Act of 1933, which established preferences for purchasing of domestic goods and materials. Ramaley noted that the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Department of Defense's Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement both implement the Buy America Act, yet the Air Force awarded this defense contract to a foreign entity.
"The airline and airplane manufacturing industries are volatile. A contract of this size could play a major role in the long-term viability of a company like Boeing that employs more than 160,000 people, and would have created nearly 29,000 U.S.-based jobs, almost twice as many as the Airbus proposal," Ramaley said.
"In addition to domestic economic concerns, awarding this contract to a foreign entity raises homeland security concerns," Ramaley said. "Mid-air refueling tankers keep our fighter jets and bombers in the air and transport materials -- services that are essential to the safety of our troops and to our national security."
On June 18, just hours after Ramaley’s resolution was unanimously voted out of the state House Labor Relations Committee, GAO issued its findings, sustaining Boeing’s protest on multiple fronts.
"The decision by GAO is significant because it illustrated serious problems with the process used to award this contract," Ramaley said. "Although the GAO’s decision is not binding, considering how few of these protests are sustained each year, I hope the Air Force decides to follow the recommendations made in GAO’s report, which demonstrated substantial flaws in the review and decision-making processes."
Ramaley hopes H.R. 704 will help to convince the president and Congress to reject the Pentagon's decision in the matter and to change the way these vital decisions are made in the future.
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