"Instead of gathering in Washington to discuss the Air Force's shoddy procurement process, we should be at our Boeing plants - in Kansas and Washington state - and with our suppliers all across the country - celebrating with America's greatest industrial work force.
"We aren't able to do that because the Air Force process was so badly flawed that it was skewed to favor one bid - and that is wrong.
What should have been a boon to American taxpayers is instead an embarrassment to American taxpayers.
"We've all seen how Boeing was placed at a disadvantage in this process. Boeing was penalized for offering a smaller plane - even though that's what the Air Force said it wanted.
"Boeing was penalized for its cost data - even though it was based on more than 50 years of experience.
"Boeing was penalized again and again - even though it had the better offer in terms of cost, the better offer in terms of risk, and
the better offer in terms of capability.
"Now, I am a former Marine. 'Give up' is not in our lexicon - Semper Fidelis is - Always Faithful. My greatest responsibility in the Senate is to represent our warfighters in the field. We know that the Air Force chose the wrong plane for the warfighter - it doesn't offer the same survivability that our Boeing plane offers - so based on that alone, it's the wrong plane for America.
"We can - we must - we shall - do better by the men and women serving our nation.
"We can - and we must - we shall - do better by the men and women who work on the Boeing line."
