[john walker's workshop]

Essex Porter
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News

Posted: 5:25 pm PDT September 21, 2010
Updated: 6:33 pm PDT September 21, 2010

TACOMA, Wash. -- Boeing tanker jets are at the center of what could be the first major controversy in the race between Sen. Patty Murray and Dino Rossi for one of Washington’s Senate seats.

The topic of Boeing building tanker jets for the Air Force came up during a conversation between Murray, Rossi and KIRO 7 Eyewitness News' partners, The News Tribune. Rossi was asked about what the World Trade Organization calls illegal subsidies to Boeing’s rival Airbus and whether the Pentagon should take those subsidies into account when it awards the tanker contract.

“No not as far as I'm concerned, no,” Rossi responded.

Boeing has been competing with Airbus to win the $35 billion contract for several years. Supporters claim the contract would be worth some 11,000 jobs at Boeing’s Everett plant.

Rossi declined a request for an on-camera interview, though his spokeswoman said “Dino will represent Washington, not France.”

Murray has won the support of Boeing machinists for her fight to force the Pentagon to include the illegal subsidies as part of the decision-making process in awarding the contract.

“This is about a tanker contract and an unfair playing field, and [Rossi] can try and obscure the issue anyway he wants to away from it, but it's very clear that he said [to The News Tribune] that he was willing to give an unfair advantage to Europe over Washington state workers,” Murray said.

In fact, Murray on Tuesday introduced legislation to force the Pentagon to take those illegal Airbus subsidies into account.

So far, there as been no response from Rossi on whether he supports it