NLPC Reacts to Award of Air Force Refueling Tanker Contract to Northrop Grumman; Watchdog Group Exposed Boeing Scandal

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Feb. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ken Boehm, Chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), today had the following reaction to the awarding of the $40 billion Air Force refueling tanker contract to Northrop Grumman Corporation:

“The scandal could not have helped Boeing’s bid to build the refueling tankers. It is an injustice to Boeing shareholders that unethical executives put in jeopardy this lucrative contract. Darleen Druyun and Michael Sears have served their prison terms, but the damage to the company and its employees continues. The original tanker deal was a done deal until the National Legal and Policy Center exposed Boeing’s lawbreaking.�

“The big question is whether anything has changed at Boeing. As I described in Congressional testimony before Senator McCain’s committee, Boeing sought a fundamentally flawed contract on the Future Combat Systems project, one that stripped out protections against waste, fraud and abuse. Future Combat Systems is an even bigger project than the tanker deal. Although I am glad the Army renegotiated the contract, the question of Boeing’s corporate culture is a lingering one.�

National Legal and Policy Center is the sponsor of a Boeing shareholder proposal to be considered this spring that asks for a shareholder vote on “golden parachutes� provided to Boeing executives. The supporting statement in the proxy states, “Our two previous CEOs have exited in embarrassment. Boeing shareholders must seek to ensure that similar future problems do not result in a windfall for failed executives at our expense."