Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:55pm EDT
WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - A group of U.S. senators urged funding for 12 more C-17 military transport airplanes on Thursday, saying that the Boeing Co (BA.N) production line must stay open to preserve national security and maintain a viable aerospace industry.
The senators urged funding for the planes in the Defense Appropriations bill for fiscal 2010, which begins Oct. 1, in a letter to the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Democratic Senators Chris Dodd and Barbara Boxer and Republican Kit Bond, along with 15 colleagues, said that the C-17 was essential for transporting troops and equipment to and from Iraq and Afghanistan.
That need would not end any time soon, they said.
Congress earlier this year included money for eight C-17s in a bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Reporting by Tim Dobbyn. Editing by Robert MacMillan)
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndu ... 0620090820
12 more C-17's at $200 million a piece, comes to $2.4 Billion.
