McCain: Tanker report unfortunate for taxpayers

A report by congressional investigators questioning a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract is a setback for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, an instrumental figure in the Pentagon's long attempt to complete a deal on the aircraft.

The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday recommended the Air Force rebid the contract after finding "a number of significant errors" in the process. Northrop Grumman Corp., and Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., beat Boeing for the contract earlier this year.

McCain had helped block a scandal-marred tanker contract with Boeing in 2004 and pressed the Pentagon in 2006 to change proposed bidding procedures opposed by Northrop Grumman and Airbus.

At a news conference in Missouri, McCain said, "I'm still proud that the first time around I saved the taxpayers $6.2 billion."

He said the day's turn of events were "unfortunate for the taxpayers, but they (Air Force officials) need to go back and redo the contracting process and the rewarding of it and hopefully they will get it right."

McCain sent two letters in 2006 urging the Defense Department to make sure the bidding proposals guaranteed competition between Boeing and Airbus. Months later, Airbus's parent company retained the firm of a McCain campaign adviser to lobby for the tanker deal last year. The firm, the Loeffler Group, is owned by former Texas Rep. Tom Loeffler, who served as McCain's national finance chairman until he resigned last month.

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday called on McCain to demand that the bidding be reopened. "After siding with his lobbyist friends in helping steer tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs overseas the last time around, Senator McCain has an opportunity to do the right thing now," DNC communications director Karen Finney said.

As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and of an Armed Services subcommittee, McCain in 2003 led an investigation that uncovered a procurement scandal that scuttled an earlier tanker contract with Boeing. A former Air Force official and a top Boeing executive both served time in prison. The scandal also led to the departure of Boeing's chief executive and several top Air Force officials.

In a statement released by his Senate office, McCain said, "My paramount concern on the tanker replacement program has always been that the Air Force buy the most capable aerial refueling tankers at the most reasonable cost."