Boeing

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2010 -- With a recorded vote of 410-8, the U.S. House of Representatives today adopted a bipartisan amendment offered by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Michael Turner (R-Ohio), and Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) to the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to ensure a level playing field for the KC-X tanker competition. The amendment requires the Department of Defense to consider any unfair competitive advantage that European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) and its subsidiary Airbus have gained from decades of illegal subsidies. The World Trade Organization recently ruled that Airbus received billions of dollars in illegal launch aid from European governments, including almost $5 billion used to develop the A330, EADS' tanker platform.

Boeing released the following statement on the amendment:

"We fully support the efforts of all members of Congress who share our concern about the unfair competitive advantage that EADS/Airbus, a foreign company, gained from decades of illegal launch aid subsidies worth billions of dollars. We are encouraged by strong bipartisan support for a fair competition on a level playing field. The amendment requires the Department of Defense to take into consideration illegal European launch aid subsidies in bid evaluations for America's next tanker. It is entirely appropriate that these congressional leaders take such steps to prevent the U.S. defense industrial base from suffering the same fate as the commercial aircraft industry, where illegal subsidies have contributed to the loss of tens of thousands of U.S. aerospace jobs."

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Contact:

William Barksdale
The Boeing Company
Office: 314-232-0860
Mobile: 314-707-3294
william.a.barksdale@boeing.com

Jacqueline Ferko
The Boeing Company
Office: 703-465-3634
Mobile: 703-209-8424
jacqueline.ferko@boeing.com