Liz Saville Roberts: “One, on the acquisition of the 767, there is no formal request for it. Two, I had a conversation with the Secretary of…”

“One, on the acquisition of the 767, there is no formal request for it. Two, I had a conversation with the Secretary of Defense yesterday. He did not know about this. There has been no request from the administration, a formal request. Of course the Air Force would like it. We are talking about numbers. We can argue about how much it costs, but at the end of 10 years the planes go back to Boeing. At the end of 10 years, the planes go back to Boeing. How in the world can you justify such a thing? The average age of the tankers is 42 years. I am sure these tankers would be eligible for at least 20 or 30 years of service. Have some competition. Why isn't anyone else allowed to bid on this airplane? It is solely a bailout for the Boeing aircraft company. It is not in President Bush's defense request for the fiscal year. September 11 did not rearrange the priorities so it is a top 60 priorities. Of course, the Air Force will accept a gift.”