House, Senate clash over 'Buy American,' Boeing tankers

The Senate has drawn battle lines against the House on Air Force aerial refueling tankers and "Buy American" legislation for the upcoming conference on the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill.

The Senate Tuesday night adopted a manager's amendment that would restrict the administration's ability to acquire Boeing KC-767 tanker aircraft, a plan that has been in the works for more than three years. Drafted by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the amendment would require the Pentagon to complete and review two studies of the Air Force's aerial refueling needs before procuring new tankers.

The Defense secretary would also need to review a new aerial refueling requirement plan validated by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a measure prompted by allegations that Boeing helped shape the current requirements in favor of the KC-767. McCain, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, has been a staunch opponent of the administration's $23.5 billion proposal to acquire the Boeing planes and his committee's scrutiny of the proposal last year prompted government probes and inquiries into the deal. In May, the Pentagon said it would delay any decision on the tanker acquisition until later this year.

The House version supports the administration's plan, authorizing about $100 million to acquire the Boeing tankers and requiring the Air Force to negotiate a contract for the planes by March 2005. McCain's amendment would require the Air Force to obtain pricing information on any commercial items under the planned procurement, including Boeing's KC-767, a move that could force the Air Force to define an appropriate acquisition strategy and secure the best price from Boeing for the planes.

A second provision in the Senate manager's amendment would gut a handful of industrial base provisions enacted in last year's defense authorization legislation. The Senate amendment is directed specifically at four provisions drafted by House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., following a heated conference debate with McCain and Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., last fall.

A third provision would clear the way for the administration to grant blanket waivers on arms export licensing to the United Kingdom and Australia, a proposal that has been in the works for more than four years. The House did not include any language related to the licensing waiver in its version, as Hunter and House International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., strongly oppose it and other administration efforts to ease arms export controls. The two chairmen teamed up this year to include language in the defense bill that would impose strict limitations on some arms exports. The Senate is expected to oppose these provisions in conference and could use its export licensing waiver to leverage them out of the final bill.