State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle joined with business and labor leaders Thursday to announce that they sent President George W. Bush a letter and urged him to halt the contract process for the U.S. Air Force mid-air refueling tanker.

In this letter, which was signed by 177 of the 187 members of the state legislature, they ask the president to reconsider the merits of Boeing’s KC-767 refueling tanker that features Pratt and Whitney engines. The contract was awarded to Airbus of Toulouse, France and the decision to go with the European company could cost the state of Connecticut up to 5,000 jobs and $40 billion in lost revenue over the next two decades.