Pete Sessions: “I wish to discuss the Government Accountability Office decision to sustain the Boeing protest of the KC-X tanker award…”

“I wish to discuss the Government Accountability Office decision to sustain the Boeing protest of the KC-X tanker award, which I have followed closely. The Northrop Grumman/EADS proposal would have resulted in a fabulous new construction facility in my home State and would have created thousands of jobs within the United States. I confess that I am disappointed by the decision. I do think it is important that we continue to follow this process and to recognize the appropriate roles of the different Government actors involved. It is, of course, not the GAO's job to pick aircraft for the Air Force. GAO used to be called the Government Accounting Office. Now it is the Government Accountability Office. It is fundamentally the accounting arm of our Government. As they said themselves when they made this decision in which they found flaws in the process for making this selection: Our decision should not be read to reflect a view as to the merits of the firms' respective aircraft. Judgments about which offeror will most successfully meet governmental needs is largely reserved for the procuring agencies, subject only to such statutory and regulatory requirements as full and open competition and fairness to potential offerors. In other words, it is the job of the war fighters, the people who will use this aircraft, the U.S. Air Force and those who benefit from the U.S. Air Force refueling capability, it is for them to make a decision about which aircraft best meets their needs.”