Don Nickles: “I agree. If the Defense Department proceeds accordingly, namely under the current contact, it will be attempting to meet…”

“I agree. If the Defense Department proceeds accordingly, namely under the current contact, it will be attempting to meet its priorities through very many of the same convoluted means that were proposed under the original agreement--means that would cost more than necessary, thereby further increasing the deficit to unnecessarily high levels. Unfortunately, in the absence of a guarantee from the Defense Department that it will not implement Section 135 as suggested by the Defense Deputy Secretary's letter of November 5, 2003 and the recent colloquy in the House, I share your concern. Additionally I want to reinforce your statement that it is not the intention of Congress, nor does this legislation reflect an agreement for the Air Force Secretary to implement the current contract on acquiring 100 tankers. We have heard testimony and the Institute of Defense Analysis has reported, and I quote, ``We believe that the $120.7 million is a conservative, robust estimate of a reasonable purchase price for the KC-767A aircraft . . . and . . . should satisfy Boeing and its shareholders.'' We should not agree to a purchase price of $138.4 million which is significantly higher, because it includes lease unique costs. I take the opportunity to highlight for our colleagues that the Congressional Budget Office has scored this transaction as an $18 billion direct purchase, requiring full budget authority up front.”