Tell Congress:  Don't Blow the Tanker Deal for Taxpayers!

The U.S. Air Force recently announced that it would award the contract for its next generation of aerial refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman Corp.  The competitive vetting process used by the Air Force is a vast improvement over the originally proposed tanker lease deal with Boeing, which was crafted by members of Congress behind closed doors without any competitive review or debate in order to subsidize Boeing’s 767 production line.

The original tanker deal was nothing more than a corporate welfare giveaway to one well-heeled, politically influential company at the expense of American taxpayers.  Then-Senator Phil Gramm (R-Texas) called it the worst pork-barrel handout he had seen in his 22 years on Capitol Hill. 

The proposed deal also proved to be a prime example of cronyism and corruption.  An Air Force procurement official received a nine-month prison sentence for negotiating the deal while seeking employment at Boeing; top Boeing officials were forced to resign; and the company had to pay the federal government a fine of more than $600 million.

By contrast, the latest tanker decision was based on an open and transparent bidding process.  The Air Force ranked each bid on five criteria and Northrop Grumman won over Boeing on four out of the five and tied in one category.  According to published reports, both sides praised the fairness of the competition before the award was announced and agreed that this was the most rigorous acquisition process in the Department of Defense’s history.

At Boeing’s request, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is now reviewing the contract award, with a ruling on its propriety expected in mid-June.  Yet, some members of Congress have publicly threatened to try to preempt the GAO ruling and steer the tanker contract from Northrop Grumman to Boeing.

Any attempt by Congress to overturn or block the tanker award out of political or parochial motives would smack of the special-interest politics condemned by the public and federal investigators the first time around.     

 Please tell your Senators and Representative to uphold the merit-based procurement process by standing behind GAO’s review and its ultimate findings!

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