HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2283 - Urging the U.S. Department of Defense to select the Boeing Company to build the next mid-air refueling tankerCITY OF MARYSVILLE
Marysville, Washington
RESOLUTION NO. 22.83
RESOLUTION URGING THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO SELECT
THE BOEING COMPANY TO BUILD THE NEXT MID-AIR REFUELING TANKER
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Defense has begun the process to procure the Air Force's next
mid-air refueling tanker; and
WHEREAS, Boeing and other suppliers are anticipated to be the competitors to build that tanker; and
WHEREAS, that contract could be worth $35 billion; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. economy is currently struggling through a recession of historic magnitude; and
WHEREAS, unemployment nationally and in Washington State remains around 10 percent; and
WHEREAS, U.S. taxpayers deserve the best tanker at the least cost; and
WHEREAS, The Boeing Company has a history of producing successful tankers for the U.S. Air Force and
other countries' air forces; and
WHEREAS, Boeing can deliver a better aircraft more quickly to our soldiers, sailors and airmen; and
WHEREAS, Boeing will build its tankers in Everett, Washington at a proven plant, with a highly skilled and
dedicated regional workforce that has a tradition of building the best airplanes in the world; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle metropolitan statistical area has the highest concentration of aerospace jobs in the
world; and
WHEREAS, Seattle and the Puget Sound region is home to the vast majority of Boeing's more than 75,000
workers; and
WHEREAS, each job at Boeing supports nearly three additional jobs; and
WHEREAS, Aerospace workers earn an average of more than $50,000 a year -60 percent higher than the
average for all private sector industries; and
WHEREAS, most aerospace companies are relatively small businesses -many with five to 50 employees; and
WHEREAS, approximately $5.4 billion is paid in annual wages to aerospace workers - 5 percent of all wages
paid in the state; and
WHEREAS, the Marysville City Council values these jobs and the people who hold them, and will make it a
priority to ensure Washington and the Puget Sound region remains the best place to design, build, and market
commercial airplanes; and
WHEREAS, our national security interests are not served by sending this valuable and strategic program
overseas; and
WHEREAS, other suppliers have a majority of their workers outside of the United States, and by their own
admission would only do the finishing work for a tanker in the U.S. -that's as little as 5 percent; and
WHEREAS, awarding the contract to Boeing can create or retain 40,000 to 50,000 American jobs at a time in
history when we desperately need them; and
WHEREAS, U.S. taxpayers are not served by buying tankers from both Boeing and other suppliers in this
competition,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor of the City of Marysville, the City Council
concurring, that the u.S. Department of Defense should select Boeing over Airbus to build the next mid-air
refueling tanker; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the U.S. Department of Defense should not split the contract between
the two competitors; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT copies of this Resolution be immediately transmitted by the City Clerk
to Boeing Corporate Offices in Chicago, Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle, the International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.
APPROVED by the Mayor of the City of Marysville this2Zth day of March, 2010.
CITY OF MARYSVILLE
~~;(,kJ
DENNIS L. KENDALL, Mayor
ATTEST:
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APPROVED AS TO FORM: