CREW STATEMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL CRITICISM OF SENATOR JOHN McCAIN OVER BOEING DEAL

6 Mar 2008 // Washington, DC - According to a New York Times story today, Democratic members of Congress this week have been critical of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) over his successful efforts to end a wasteful deal with Boeing years ago.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released the following statement in support of Sen. McCain.

"By attacking Senator McCain, who happens to be the Republican presidential nominee, congressional Democrats are playing politics with billions of taxpayer dollars. Senator McCain was one of the few people to take on the original Boeing tanker deal and Representative Murtha and his colleagues should have been supporting McCain's investigation at the time. Those who criticize Senator McCain over this are rewriting history.

Literally hundreds of millions would have been wasted if that deal had gone through. Senator McCain was one of the few members of Congress to courageously stand up against it. Members should be thanking him – not condemning him. As opposed to the original Boeing deal – this most recent deal went through competitive bidding process and appears to have been justifiably awarded."

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/nseligman@citizensforethics.org.

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