Mobile Leaders to D.C. to Push Dual Procurement

Posted on: Feb 23rd, 2010 | News and Announcements

With a final Request for Proposal (RFP) due out this week for new U.S. Air Force refueling tankers, Mobile area leaders are headed to Washington to push for a competitive dual procurement. ?Buying from both firms would sustain 44,000 Boeing jobs and create almost 50,000 new jobs associated with the Northrop Grumman tanker,? said Mobile County Commission President Mike Dean. ?The project is budgeted, the ancient tankers flying now get retired twice as quickly, and we put nearly 100,000 Americans to work for the next 15 years all across the country.? Among those joining Dean on the trip to meet with lawmakers and congressional staff is Mobile City Councilwoman Connie Hudson. ?If the administration and Congress are serious about legitimate, lasting, stimulus then this is a no-brainer,? said Hudson. ?Let?s put people to work now and get the military the equipment it needs? Hudson and Dean say the alternatives to a dual competitive procurement are unacceptable. ?Two things will happen,? said Dean. ?Northrop could find the RFP objectionable and not bid. Then Boeing has a sole-source contract and we get 30 years of delays and cost overruns.? Hudson continued, ?If Northrop does bid, we?ll just stay in the cycle of awards, protests, and rebids and it will be another decade before the Air Force gets its planes.? If selected, Northrop Grumman would assemble its tankers in Mobile. Dean and Hudson will be in Washington February 23rd ? February 25th. #### To arrange a personal or phone interview with Commissioner Dean and/or Councilmember Hudson, please contact: Peter Albrecht 251-406-2731 palbrecht@mobile-county.net