Alabamians Defend Defense Contract
Alabama’s elected officials are going to bat for the home team to rebut those who are criticizing the Air Force’s decision to choose Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) over Boeing in a recently awarded contract to make refueling tankers. The contract is expected to create 2000 jobs in Mobile.
Associated Press last weekend:
In a letter sent to the nation’s other lieutenant governors Friday, [Alabama Lt. Gov.] Folsom wrote: “The announcement by the Speaker of the House that Congress would be investigating the award of the contract has created a whirlwind of media coverage. As a result, a vast amount of misinformation has been reported distorting the facts surrounding the award, and making any impartial evaluation of this situation problematic.”
[…]
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, members of the state’s congressional delegation, and the Legislature, through a resolution, have defended the selection process, which is supposed to result in a tanker assembly plant in Mobile and the creation of 2,000 jobs.
Mary Orndorff of the Birmingham News reported in her Washington blog, Sweet Home Potomac on Friday:
There are signs that the Alabama delegation, once content to patiently stick to the high road as the appeal of the Air Force tanker contract played out in official channels, is now engaging in the parallel, bare-knuckled political spat.
Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby fired off a “dear colleague” letter to their 98 colleagues last night to counter “misinformation” about the dispute between Northrop Grumman/EADS and Boeing, and ask that cooler heads prevail until the GAO releases its report, probably in June.
(R) Jeff Sessions (1-19)
(D) Vivian Figures (33-1)
(D) Artur Davis (1-49)
(R) Mike Hubbard (13-1)
(?) David Bronner (OFF)