Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe issued the following statement in response to today’s Congressional announcement to fund construction of 10 additional C-17 military transport aircraft.
"I could not be more pleased by today’s announcement that new funding has been earmarked for the Boeing C-17 program. I want to thank Senator Jim Talent of Missouri for efforts to secure funding to construct 10 additional planes. Thanks also belong to Senator Dianne Feinstein, Congressman Ken Calvert, the California Congressional delegation, Mayor Bob Foster of Long Beach and every elected leader and community leader who have fought hard for this program."
"We know the C-17 is essential to the military in the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it is also important here at home for disaster response and homeland security efforts. As Senator Talent correctly pointed out in today’s announcement, our nation obviously does not have the supply of C-17’s that it truly needs, otherwise, the plane would not be operating at 186-percent capacity."
"Besides the huge potential hit the economy would take from the loss of 6,500 jobs at the Boeing plant in Long Beach, shutting down the C-17 could prove a costly error for National Security. Mistakes have been made in the past from shutting down aircraft production lines and we must make sure we do not make the same mistake again. Shuttering the C-17 plant means the United States would lose its last defense cargo aircraft production facility."
Supervisor Knabe currently serves as part of the C-17 "Red Team," a group of local, state and federal elected leaders that are fighting for the continued production of the C-17.