Merkley: Congress should investigate tanker deal

Merkley says Congress should investigate tanker deal
The Associated Press, 3/17/08

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is weighing in on an Air Force decision to award an aerial refueling tanker contract to rivals of Chicago-based Boeing Co.

Merkley, the speaker of the Oregon House, said Congress should investigate Feb. 29 decision awarding the $35 billion contract to Boeing rival European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp.

Merkley called the contract award a threat to national security and said American tax dollars should not be used to outsource American jobs. The Boeing plan would have created about 9,000 jobs in Washington state and 225 jobs in Oregon.

Merkley is one of two Democrats seeking the Senate seat held by Republican Gordon Smith.

Posted March 17, 2008
Press

Jeff Merkley was born in the small town of Myrtle Creek, Oregon, the son of a sawmill worker. He's fought hard for working families in Oregon and he's ready to help lead America.

As Oregon's Speaker of the House, Jeff Merkley led one of the most effective, efficient and progressive legislative sessions in Oregon's history - with big achievements for schools, ethics, health care, jobs, alternative energy, and protections for working families.

Discover why Jeff Merkley is ready to lead.

From the Oregonian:

Merkley raced [quarter-midget cars] as a child, and once owned -- and crashed -- a Harley. He roomed with an impoverished family in Ghana as a teen, hitchhiked across Israel as a young man and went on, as he puts it, to help shut down one of Portland's worst crack alleys.

"I've lived," he says, "a pretty unconventional life."

Read the Oregonian profile of Jeff Merkley's life before politics.

Paid for by Jeff Merkley for Oregon