Bob Filner: “yesterday the GAO sustained a protest filed by Boeing Company over the Air Force's decision to award a lucrative…”

“yesterday the GAO sustained a protest filed by Boeing Company over the Air Force's decision to award a lucrative contract for aerial refueling tankers to a team led by Northrop Grumman and the European firm behind Airbus. GAO's decision followed a 100-day review of the Air Force's selection process for the $35 billion tanker program. In the decision, GAO recommended that the Air Force reopen discussions with the contractors, obtain revised proposals and make a new decision. The Air Force was also directed to reimburse Boeing for the cost of the protest. I am very pleased, as many Members of this body are, as millions of people across America are, and we hope the Air Force completely rebids the contract. But this opens a whole bigger issue that we ought to be discussing. We need to step back, take a look at the bigger picture--the impact of the Defense Department contract outsourcing on American jobs. As we know, the American economy was founded with a base of manufacturing jobs. Today, it is still those jobs that keep the economy strong. Right now the stock market is down, the dollar is down, unemployment numbers are up. It doesn't take a Harvard MBA to see our economy is faltering because of the erosion of manufacturing jobs. Let's keep our jobs in America!”