Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994 TAG: 9402170099
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The commercial planes will be built for the oil-rich kingdom by Boeing Co. of Seattle and McDonnell Douglas Corp. of Long Beach, Calif., proving "that we can compete," Clinton said in a splashy White House ceremony.
Saudi Arabia chose the American firms over foreign competitors. Britain, France and Germany all had lobbied on behalf of Airbus Industrie, the big European consortium.
Clinton weighed in with a telephone call to King Fahd.
Besides Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, the Saudi order will benefit firms across the United States that manufacture jet engines and other airplane parts. Clinton sent Vice President Al Gore to the Boeing plant to spread the good news and mine for political dividends.
The Saudis, despite their spectacular oil wealth, were complaining only a few weeks ago that falling prices had crimped their spending programs. They got some help from the Clinton administration in that the purchase will be financed through the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which means a break in the interest to be charged by commercial banks.
After listening to European officials, the Saudis chose to buy from their principal arms supplier and the country that organized defense of the Persian Gulf oil fields against an expansionist Iraq in 1990.
Also, with imports of oil rising despite pleas for conservation and energy independence, Americans continue to pump dollars into the Saudi economy with their gasoline purchases.
Just how many Americans will be hired or kept on jobs they were apt to lose in a weakened industry was impossible to know for sure. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown estimated 100,000, saying every billion-dollar increase in exports means 20,000 new jobs for Americans.
Asked if the agreement were a payback for the war effort, Brown replied: "No, not at all. What it represents is hard work on the part of American companies and the American government."
Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador and himself a pilot, stood alongside Clinton in the White House for the announcement, along with Brown and Chairmen Frank Shrontz of Boeing and John McDonnell of McDonnell Douglas.
The aerospace industry is in the grip of hard times. Tens of thousands of American workers have been laid off.
How the $6 billion pie will be divided between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, or how much of it others in the industry might gain, was not disclosed. Brown said other companies would include Pratt & Whitney and General Electric Co., builders of jet engines.
"This is a great day for the country," said House Speaker Thomas Foley of Washington, Boeing's home.
Rep. Dan Glickman, D-Kan., whose district includes a Boeing plant at Wichita, told Clinton: "We thank God it's American jobs."
by CNB