Two Sides to Every Story: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) relished the Pentagon’s announcement Wednesday that it’s willing to extend the KC-X proposal deadline by 60 days if EADS is serious about bidding. He said the Defense Department made “the right decision” because having the presence of a competitor in the tanker contest—as opposed to only Boeing—”better serves the interest” of warfighters and taxpayers. EADS already has a large presence in Alabama and has said it would build tankers there. Meanwhile, lawmakers in states where Boeing makes airplanes had different perspectives. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said the Pentagon’s gesture is “completely unacceptable” and would mean bending the rules once again “for a company that has refused to play by them.” And Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said he’s “concerned these kinds of concessions will mean yet another failed tanker competition.” (See Crying Foul above.) (Shelby statement) (Murray statement) (Roberts statement)
See also:
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) statement
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) statement