March 1, 2007 —
Gentlemen,
I am writing to urge you to fund the C-17 Globemaster III airlift program, which plays an essential role in the Global War on Terror and other military and humanitarian operations.
As the United States enters its sixth year of fighting terrorism around the world, military experts will tell you that the C-17 has proven to be the military's true workhorse in both combat and humanitarian relief missions. The C-17 has delivered more cargo, troops and humanitarian supplies than any other aircraft and currently flies more than 80 percent of all U.S. airlift missions, while comprising only 55 percent of the military's airlift fleet. Discontinuing this aircraft will strain our military's airlift capacity and seriously jeopardize our national security, at a time when we can least afford such an action.
Last fall, I joined thousands of Boeing employees at the Long Beach facility to celebrate the decision by Congress to authorize production of the C-17 through 2009. The pride of these men and women who build our nation's best military aircraft is overwhelming. They work their hearts out every day to produce the best, most reliable military aircraft in the world. They put their skills to work every day to keep America safe and strong. There is no doubt in their minds that the work they do is vital to America's security. And we should not doubt the critical role the C-17 plays in our nation's air arsenal by signaling an end to C-17 production.
The impact of discontinuing production would be disastrous in California and across the nation. Currently, C-17 production has an estimated economic impact of $8.4 billion nationally and an economic impact that exceeds $3.7 billion in California. If production is shut down, 346 company suppliers that employ more than 6,000 skilled workers would be affected in California alone. Even temporarily shutting down production of this critical military asset would guarantee that our future mobility airlift requirements are met by foreign producers. If the decision is made later down the line to resume production, reopening a production line of this magnitude would come at enormous and unnecessary expense.
The President did not include funding in his Fiscal Year 2008 budget request or the Fiscal Year 2007 Emergency Supplemental request for any additional C-17 production, despite the fact that the Air Force did again incorporate the C-17 into its unfunded request list. Given this, it is clear that accepting the President's budget request to shut down the C-17 would be a grave mistake and would contradict the Congress' strong bipartisan support for the program.
In addition, temporarily shutting down production of this critical military asset would guarantee that our future mobility airlift requirements are met by foreign producers. If the decision is made later down the line to resume production, reopening a production line of this magnitude would come at enormous and unnecessary expense.
For all these reasons, I respectfully request you to include funding in the Fiscal Year 2007 Supplemental Appropriations bill and in the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations bill, so that 16 additional C-17s can be built. Continued production of the C-17 will ensure that America will be able to meet its airlift and national security requirements at a time when our needs in these areas continue to grow. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Back to State Government Relations page
