Why this matters:

The Pentagon will spend $61 billion during fiscal year 2002 just to develop and purchase new weapons systems, aircraft, and ships. In a democracy, it is essential that the federal government follow it's own procurement rules and laws for buying weapons. The process must be followed to ensure that U.S. fighting men and women get the best possible weapons and the taxpayers get the most for their money. The Boeing 767 tanker lease proposal is a textbook case of bad procurement policy and favoritism to a single defense contractor. Without public debate, Congress brashly subverted the competitive bidding process by authorizing the Air Force to purchase the tankers without competitive bidding.