I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 680 

To require that the aircraft used as Air Force One by the President be 

an aircraft that is made in America by an American-owned company. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2009 

Mr. POE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require that the aircraft used as Air Force One by the 

President be an aircraft that is made in America by 

an American-owned company. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air Force One Built 

5 in America Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Presidential jets, known as Air Force One 

9 when the President is on board, have stood as a 

10 symbol of national pride and have showcased AmerVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:17 Jan 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H680.IH H680

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1 ica’s manufacturing ingenuity domestically and 

2 around the world since the early 1960s. 

3 (2) America’s aerospace industry leader, Boe4 ing, has nearly 100 years of experience designing 

5 aircraft, and if asked to build an aircraft equivalent 

6 to any existing foreign aircraft, it would meet that 

7 challenge. 

8 (3) American taxpayers should not have their 

9 tax dollars shipped to a foreign company to build an 

10 aircraft that will be used by their President. 

11 (4) Outsourcing the production of a presidential 

12 aircraft that will contain important command and 

13 control military capabilities to a foreign company 

14 constitutes a national security risk. 

15 (5) EADS, the parent company of Airbus, 

16 which is currently the only other company capable of 

17 building an aircraft as sophisticated as Air Force 

18 One, has a demonstrably poor track record against 

19 United States security interests, including efforts to 

20 sell military helicopters to Iran in 2005 and efforts 

21 to sell American-made military aircraft and tech22 nology in 2006 to Venezuela without the permission 

23 of the United States, which is in violation of United 

24 States law. A company with this kind of history 


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1 should not be building the Nation’s most important 

2 military command and control aircraft. 

3 (6) Decisions to outsource production almost 

4 never take into account the loss of jobs and the ad5 verse economic impact it has on communities 

6 throughout America. In a time when the economy is 

7 in recession, the Nation cannot afford to lose more 

8 manufacturing jobs. 

9 (7) EADS is supported largely by European 

10 subsidies designed to put American competitors that 

11 do not rely on similar revenue sources at a disadvan12 tage in an effort to command market share. The 

13 United States currently has a World Trade Organi14 zation case pending against Airbus as a result of 

15 these actions. 

16 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT AN AIRCRAFT USED AS AIR 

17 FORCE ONE BE MADE IN AMERICA BY AN 

18 AMERICAN-OWNED COMPANY. 

19 The Secretary of Defense may enter into a contract 

20 for the procurement of an aircraft for use as Air Force 

21 One by the President only if that aircraft is manufactured 

22 in the United States by an American-owned company. 

23 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF AMERICAN-OWNED COMPANY. 

24 In this Act, the term ‘‘American-owned company’’ 

25 means a company— 


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1 (1) the chief executive officer of which is a cit2 izen of the United States; 

3 (2) at least two-thirds of the board of directors 

4 and other managing officers of which are citizens of 

5 the United States; and 

6 (3) that is under the actual control of citizens 

7 of the United States. 

Æ 


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