Bill gives C-17 program $3.6 billion

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Bill gives C-17 program $3.6 billion
By Joe Stevens Staff Writer
Article Launched: 06/27/2008 10:46:16 PM PDT

LONG BEACH - The 4,900 employees in Boeing's C-17 production line did not breathe a collective sigh of relief. Nor did they throw an office party.

But Boeing and its employees in Long Beach were happy and looking forward Friday after the Senate passed a $162 billion war spending plan that includes the production of 15 C-17 airlifters.

"I think everyone here is pleased the Senate supported the legislation," said Jerry Drelling, a Boeing spokesman for the C-17 fleet. "But I wouldn't characterize it as a big sigh of relief or anything like that because we've always been looking toward the future. We've been optimistic and moving forward during the entire process, and this is an important bridge to the future."

The bill, which was approved by a 92-6 vote, will go to the White House, where President Bush needs to sign it to enact the legislation. That should be a mere formality because Bush indicated last week that he will sign.

Approximately $3.6 billion of the $162 billion bill will go toward the production of the 15 C-17 Globemaster airlifters. Boeing manufactures 15 C-17 s per year and will complete an order of 190 of them by August 2009.

The next 15 will take Boeing's C-17 production until August 2010. The company is hopeful that Congress will put an additional order for 15 C-17 s in its budget for the fiscal year 2009. That budget, with or without the C-17 order, likely will not be passed until the fall.

Boeing is Long Beach's largest private employer and has about 10,000 employees working in the city. Approximately 4,900 work on the C-17 production line. The funding, however, goes beyond the local scope.

"The bill passed by the Senate and the House reflects the strong support for the C-17, here in the U.S. and internationally, because it has proven itself repeatedly as the airlifter of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan," Drelling said. "Additionally, the C-17 has played a key role in multiple humanitarian missions, most recently in China in the wake of a devastating earthquake and in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar."

joe.stevens@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1281

Source
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_9723206