Robert Abboud Takes on United’s China Outsourcing

A press release has been received from 16th district Democratic Party candidate Robert Abboud, the village president of Barrington Hills:

ROBERT ABBOUD DECRIES OUTSOURCING OF U.S. AIRLINE SAFETY AND JOBS TO CHINA

Barrington Hills, IL – Robert Abboud, the Democratic candidate for the Illinois 16th Congressional District, decried outsourcing of American airline safety and mechanic jobs to foreign countries like China.

Abboud cited the current outsourcing by United Airlines of heavy maintenance of its 747s and 777s to countries like China as posing safety risks for U.S. passengers and costing more American jobs. According to CNN Money, the Federal Aviation Administration does not currently require foreign companies to perform drug or criminal background checks on their employees or the employment of FAA-certified mechanics.[1]

Abboud said: “It is abominable that we are now outsourcing our air travel safety to countries like China that famously lack rigorous product and engineering safety standards. It is a risk to U.S. passenger safety and a callous slap in the face to hard-working American mechanics that face job losses. If we can not even trust the safety of toys and pet foods made from these countries, what makes United think that we can trust them with the safety of our lives on the air? I call on Congress and my opponent to take a stand for American consumers and workers by enacting measures to stop this and other outsourcing of American safety and jobs.”

Abboud’s opponent, Rep. Don Manzullo, has complained about jobs going to China but then voted to keep tax breaks for overseas corporations. In 2004, he voted against legislation that revoked an export tax break for U.S. manufacturers ruled an illegal trade subsidy by the World Trade Organization. The legislation would have also denied some tax benefits to domestic corporations that reincorporate overseas to avoid U.S. income taxes.[2]

Robert Abboud is a nuclear engineer, business owner, and the President of the village of Barrington Hills. He is a resident of Barrington Hills since 1968, where he resides with his wife Patricia.

1] CNNMoney.com, 11/21/07.

[2] Chicago Tribune, 2/12/04.


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