Today in the Senate

Congress to Fund 10 More Cargo Planes to
Be Built in Long Beach

September 21, 2006

Congress will fund 10 new Boeing C-17 cargo aircraft, lawmakers said Thursday, keeping production lines open longer at the company's Long Beach plant. The $2.1 billion in new money was being included in the annual defense spending bill. Negotiations on the bill were being completed Thursday evening. The C-17 program had been in jeopardy after the Defense Department recommended buying no more aircraft beyond the 180 planned. The last of the planes were set for delivery in 2008. Boeing Co. told its C-17 work force in Long Beach last month that it would start shutting down production of the plane in 2009 unless the company received new orders. The new funding is expected to keep the plant open through the end of 2009. More than 5,500 workers are employed at the C-17 assembly plant in Long Beach, and more workers build components at other facilities in Missouri, Arizona and Georgia. "The C-17 has been essential to our nation's combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as our global fight against terror and our international human relief efforts," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "This funding is critical for continuing its production and it means that the thousands of Californians and others nationwide who are employed in its production will remain secure in their positions," she said. Meanwhile, a new Government Accountability Office report criticized a Pentagon study that said the military doesn't need any more of the cargo planes. The GAO said the Pentagon's study relied on inadequate data and questionable scenarios, yielding some results that were "incomplete, unclear, or contingent on further study." The Pentagon has refused to release details of the study. Staff Writer Sam Hananel contributed to this report.