December 16, 2009

Tanker bids spark Dem family feud

Click HERE to read the article on Politico.com

By: Jen DiMascio
December 15, 2009 06:49 PM EST

The Air Force competition for new aerial refueling tankers is turning Democrat against Democrat.

Sen. Patty Murray represents Washington state, where Boeing plans to build the tankers if it wins the Air Force's third bid to procure new tankers. And on Monday, she told NPR that thousands of workers in Everett were already making planes - then took it a little too far for Rep. Artur Davis, a Democrat from Alabama, where the team of Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. plan to make tankers if they win the contract.

Murray said: "I would challenge anybody to tell me that they've stood on a line in Alabama and seen anybody building anything."

And Davis fired backed, telling her she'd crossed a line.

"By now, surely you realize that those observations about Alabama are wrong and ill-informed, and I hope you will apologize for them," Davis wrote in a letter to Murray, pointing to the state's recent successes in auto manufacturing.

"As inaccurate as your comments were, I appreciate that they were made in the advocacy of jobs for your state," he said. "I would hope that you and the Washington delegation will use this moment to appreciate that jobs are a key component of the argument about the refueling tanker and that there is a solution that could gain jobs for our states and numerous others."

And that solution, Davis added, "is a dual award that would double the impact of this contract from roughly 50,000 jobs to over 100,000 jobs and would at the same time save billions in maintenance costs for the outdated KC-135s by moving up the production timeline for the new award."

Murray's not apologizing, though, for the comments that were directed at the ability to build tankers - not make cars. "There is no tanker line in Alabama - plain and simple," said her spokesman, Matt McAlvanah.

This latest congressional dustup comes as Northrop Grumman and EADS have continued to threaten to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to draft bid specifications before issuing the final version.

The Air Force has indicated it's not likely to heed those changes, but some members of Congress are upping the ante.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who has asked unsuccessfully to discuss the tanker competition with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is planning to hold up the nomination of Erin Conaton for under secretary of the Air Force. Conaton is currently the staff director for Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.