Don Nickles: “I understand that the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that if the Air Force implements the compromise by…”

“I understand that the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that if the Air Force implements the compromise by acquiring the tankers under two separate contracts, gets budget authority at the time it orders its planes, and pays progress payments, taxpayers will see $5.3 billion in savings over the Air Force's original proposal to lease 100 tankers. On the other hand, if the Air Force executes under a single contract--presumably under the current proposed contract--and pays at delivery, taxpayers will see savings cut nearly in half, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. Unfortunately, I have every reason to believe that the Air Force will proceed in this manner, which fundamentally belies the compromise proposal. By proceeding accordingly, the Air Force succeeds in deferring having to make hard budget decisions to acquire tankers it says it 'urgently' needs, Boeing locks the Air Force into a contract to acquire 100 tankers, and the investment bank gets its cut for setting up any financing and providing other financial services associated with the deal. All of this is done at an unnecessarily high cost to taxpayers-- just as under the original proposal.”