Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise this afternoon to call on the Senate to move and pass H.R. 6540, which is the Defense Level Playing Field Act, a bill which was passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives yesterday.

This is a bill that is identical to a bipartisan provision I have introduced here in the Senate with Senators BROWNBACK, CANTWELL, and others from States that know the value of American aerospace. It is a bill that will require the Pentagon to take into account illegal subsidies to foreign companies in our country, and that will finally deliver an even playing field in our procurement process.

But above all, this is a jobs bill. It is about protecting skilled, family-wage jobs, manufacturing jobs, and engineering jobs--jobs with technical skills and expertise that are passed down from one generation to the next; jobs that not only support our families during a very difficult economic time but are also helping to keep our communities above water. These are jobs in communities in Kansas, in Connecticut, in California, and in my home State of Washington. They are jobs that support small businesses, they pay people's mortgages, and they create economic opportunity. These jobs right now are at risk. Why? Because of illegal subsidies that undercut our workers and create an uneven playing field for America's aerospace workers.

This is a commonsense, straightforward way to protect American aerospace jobs from unfairly subsidized European competition. It is a bill that specifically targets a major job-creating project--the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker contract--as a place where we can begin to restore fairness for our aerospace workers. This bill says that in awarding that critical tanker contract, the Pentagon must consider any unfair competitive advantage aerospace companies have, and there is no bigger unfair advantage right now in the world of international aerospace than launch aid.

As my colleagues may know, launch aid is direct funding that has been provided to the European aerospace company Airbus from the treasuries of European governments. It is what supports their factories and their workers and their airplanes. It is what allows them to price their airplanes far below those that are made here in the United States and still turn a profit. It is what allows them to literally role the dice and lose on a product and what separates them from American aerospace companies, such as Boeing, that bet the company on each new airplane line they produce. In short, it is what allows them to stack the decks against American workers.

In July of this year, the World Trade Organization handed down a ruling in a case that the United States brought against the European Union that finally called launch aid what it really is: a trade-distorting, job-killing, unfair advantage. That is what the WTO said. It is one of our Nation's most important trade cases to date. The WTO ruled very clearly that launch aid is illegal, it creates an uneven playing field, it has harmed American workers and companies, and it needs to end.

Specifically, the WTO found that European governments have provided Airbus with more than 15 billion Euros in launch aid, subsidizing every model of aircraft ever produced by Airbus in the last 40 years, including, by the way, the A330--the very model they are now putting forward in the tanker competition. The WTO ruled that France and Germany and Spain provided more than 1 billion Euros in infrastructure and infrastructure-related grants between 1989 and 2001, as well as another billion in share transfers and equity infusions into Airbus. They ruled that European governments provided over 1 billion in Euros in funding between 1986 and 2005 for research and development directed specifically to the development of Airbus aircraft. In fact, the Lexington Institute states that launch aid represents over $200 billion in today's dollars in total subsidies to Airbus.

Launch aid has very real consequences. It has created an uphill battle for our American workers and American aerospace as a whole. Because of launch aid, our workers are now not only competing against rival companies, they are competing against the treasuries of European governments. At the end of the day, that has meant lost jobs at our American aerospace companies and suppliers and the communities that support them.

I have been speaking out against Europe's market-distorting actions for many years because I understand that these subsidies are not only illegal, they are deeply unfair and anticompetitive.

My home State of Washington is, of course, home to much of our country's aerospace industry, and I know our workers are the best in the world. On a level playing field, they can compete and win against absolutely anybody. But, unfortunately, Airbus and the European Union have refused to allow fair competition. Instead, they use their aerospace industry as a government-funded jobs program, and they use billions in illegal launch aid to fund it.

So let me be clear about one thing. The objective of this bill that was passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives yesterday is not to limit competition; it is to make sure everyone can compete on a level playing field. Airbus has made it clear they will go to any lengths to hurt our country's aerospace industry. We need to make it clear we will take every action to stop them because this is not only about the future of aerospace; it is about jobs right now that will help our economy recover. In fact, as we look at ways to stimulate job growth and keep American companies innovating and growing, we shouldn't look any further than this bill.

This bill is a commonsense policy. It makes sure U.S. Government policy translates to Pentagon policy because the fact is that the U.S. Government, through our Trade Representative, has taken the position that Airbus subsidies are illegal and unfair. Yet, on the other hand, the U.S. Department of Defense is ignoring that position as we look to purchase a new tanker fleet, and that does not make any sense--not for our country, not for our military, and certainly not for our workers. The WTO made a fair decision. Airbus subsidies are illegal and anticompetitive. Now the Department of Defense needs to take that ruling into account.

When I go home and talk to our aerospace workers in Washington State, I want to be able to tell them we have evened the stakes. I want them to know their government is not looking the other way as policies continue to undercut their jobs and their opportunities. I want them to know that while they are working to secure our country by producing the best airplane in the world, their government is doing everything it can to make sure fair opportunities are there that will keep them on the job.

It is time to take these job-killing subsidies into account. It is the right thing to do for our workers, for our economy, and the future of our airspace industry.

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 6540

So I ask, as if in legislative session and as if in morning business, unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6540, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that the bill be read three times and passed; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; and any statements relating to the matter be printed in the Record.

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