McCain May Seek Boeing Repayments in Plane Scandal

[PhiPsiRuss]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co. may have to repay any ill-gotten gains in the Pentagon's biggest contracting scandal in more than a decade, Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCain said on Friday.

McCain, in a stinging indictment of a stalled Air Force drive to get modified Boeing 767s as refueling tankers, said he planned to "find out how much money we can reclaim if necessary on behalf of taxpayers" from contracting abuses confessed to by ex-Air Force weapons buyer Darleen Druyun.

The Arizona Republican, who heads the Commerce Committee, said in a Senate floor speech he would take a fresh look at the entire Pentagon procurement process starting in January.

Druyun admitted to a federal judge last month she improperly steered more than $6 billion of Air Force contracts to Boeing since 2000 before joining the company as a $250,000-a-year vice president in January 2003.

Among other things, she said she had agreed to pay more than she thought justified for a planned initial batch of 100 tankers as a "parting gift" to the Chicago-based company, the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier.

"What kind of a system is it that allows such a thing to take place over a period of years," McCain thundered.

The rest of the article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...eing_mccain_dc

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This scandal has more depth than is being reported. These 767s would replace 40 year old aircraft. Its reasonable to expect that these 767s could be used for 40+ years as well. If the Air Force proceeds with the 767s, they'll be buying yesterday's technology. Production of the 767 will soon come to an end, and be replaced with the much more advanced 7E7 Dreamliner. This new airplane is the one that the Air Force should buy, and not lease.