Labor Voices

America can't afford to sell its defenses
Increasing U.S. content of military equipment increases security, jobs

By Mark Gaffney
First printed in The Detroit News 02/17/2006

Teamster President James Hoffa last week called for ownership of America's port operations only by American companies. He is right. But we must go beyond ports.

America is in the dangerous process of selling off our national defense. All American military systems are required to be built with only 50 percent of American parts.

Recently Congress attempted to raise that level to 65 percent, but the Bush Pentagon and defense contractors said "no."

Preparedness suffers

Early in the Iraq war, a Swiss subcontractor refused to continue to supply our military with critical parts for "smart bombs" because of its opposition to the war. The 50 percent reliability of our military preparedness -- due to relying on foreign parts -- is unacceptable.

Many parts to the Navy F-14 Tomcat fighter jet are now shipped in from Poland, and the Marines are looking to do the same thing with their Cobra helicopter.

U.S. soldiers now carry 240G machine guns -- made by Fabrique Nationale, a Belgian company. These have now all but replaced the venerable American-made M-60s that were the U.S. weapon of choice from Vietnam to the first Gulf War, according to military news services. Most American military personnel carry a 9 mm pistol -- made by Beretta, an Italian company.

Even Marine One, the large helicopter that chauffeurs the president, is now no longer exclusively made in the states, but now major components of it are made in England and Italy.

Profits over protection

Why is the profit motive greater than the urge to protect our country? Why is the desire to buy and sell a greater force than patriotism? It shouldn't be.

From tanks to technology, from uniforms to submarines, American companies should be outfitting our military. National homeland security, military preparedness, borders, ports and all military support -- all of these contracts should go to American firms with American employees. To do otherwise is unpatriotic and dangerous.

In some foreign ports, ship chanderly (the provision and delivery of supplies) is done by foreign companies.

Whom do they hire? What security actions do they perform as they put tons of equipment on our ships (the USS Cole suddenly comes to mind).

Subcontract Coast Guard?

Would we subcontract the Coast Guard; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Drug Enforcement Administration or our Border Patrol? I know we could get these jobs done more cheaply by foreign companies.

That may seem absurd, but these outsourced contracts for important, defense sensitive operations are only a matter of degree. Protecting national security is difficult enough; why burden that effort with thousands of international businesses and contracts?

National security should also mean secure jobs. If all defense, security and military needs were met by American companies, not just 50 percent, we could provide more jobs for Americans.

Higher U.S. vehicle content

The next step is content legislation for government and military vehicles. I find it hard to believe and troubling that anyone would think our government's giving our tax dollars to foreign manufacturers and foreign workers while Americans are out of work would be good public policy.

At the Michigan AFL-CIO, we like to remind visitors to our building that if every American were to switch the purchase of just $30 a year from imported to U.S.-made apparel and home fashions, more than 100,000 American jobs could be saved..

This Memorial Day, citizens will pass out small American flags to our children who watch along parade routes. Almost all of those flags will be made in Communist China. We should be ashamed of that, because the lesson it teach our kids is that everything in America is for sale, and likely to be outsourced, even our flag.

It would be better to teach our children about the pride in our country that American workers have as those American workers produce our goods, protect our ports and borders and build our military.

Marine One, the helicopter that transports the president and Cabinet members here and overseas, is no longer made exclusively in America. Major parts of it are made in England and Italy.