(Washington, DC)  --  U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Concord) today said Ohio should not suffer further cuts in military personnel because the state has suffered more from force reductions in the last two decades than most other states.

 LaTourette, co-chair of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition, said a new report about force reductions paints a bleak picture for states in the Northeast and Midwest, and Ohio in particular.  Ohio could lose thousands of jobs during the next round of base reductions and closings, LaTourette said.  

 “Should these jobs and facilities go away, they won’t come back,” he said.

 LaTourette said the Defense Department is looking to close or reduce about one-fourth of all bases and military offices in the country to achieve savings of $3 billion.  The department will send a list of possible base closings and consolidations to the nine-member Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) Commission by May 16 for review.  The commission has until September 8 to submit final recommendations to the White House.   President Bush must reject or approve the list by September 23.

 Two potential sites on the BRAC list are the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna and the Defense Financial Accounting Service (DFAS) in Cleveland, he said.  DFAS workers do payroll for the Navy around the globe, as well as reservists, military spouses and survivors.  About 1,200 jobs in Cleveland are at risk, and the average DFAS worker earns close to $55,000 a year, LaTourette said.

 The 910th Airlift Wing and the Navy and Marine Reserve units are located at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.  He said the military’s combined contribution to Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania is about 2,400 jobs and $120 million in economic impact annually.

 “Closure of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station would be economically devastating to the Mahoning Valley,” LaTourette said.

 LaTourette said Ohio’s military presence and its economy will suffer if these military jobs are lost.

 “The number of active duty military in Ohio has dropped by more than 40 percent since base closings began in the 1980s,” he said.  “It’s time to look for military reductions outside of Ohio and outside of the Midwest and the Northeast.”

 LaTourette said Ohio holds 4 percent of the U.S. population but just 2.5 percent of all U.S.-based defense personnel and less than 1 percent of the active duty military located domestically.  Ohio is home to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, as well as important smaller bases used by National Guard and reserve forces. 

 Ohio and other states are already at a disadvantage:  Ohio and the 17 other states in the Northeast-Midwest region together contain fewer active duty military personnel than Texas or California, LaTourette said.

 “Since 1987, Ohio ranks 10th for the drop in guard and reserve forces, 13th for the reduction in active duty military, 15th for the decline in civilian Defense Department workers, and 13th for cuts in total defense personnel,” LaTourette said.  “With homeland security a top military concern, the Pentagon should maintain a significant presence in Ohio, not further undermine our state’s defense infrastructure.”
 
 LaTourette cited a report released today by the Northeast-Midwest Institute:   Base Closings and Military Presence in the Northeast-Midwest: The Nation’s Unguarded Region.

 Acccording to the report, the Northeast-Midwest region holds almost 40 percent of the nation’s population and accounts for more than 40 percent of its annual economic output but accounts for just more than 10 percent of the U.S.-based active duty military personnel.

 LaTourette said the 18 states of the Northeast-Midwest region together experienced a drop of 41 percent in active duty military personnel from 1987 to the present, compared to a 21 percent decrease elsewhere in the country.  Total defense personnel, including civilian workers and guard and reserve forces, fell 39 percent in the Northeast-Midwest region and 25 percent in the rest of the nation.

 LaTourette said the new Northeast-Midwest report can be reviewed online at:  www.nemw.org/reports.htm#fedspending.  The Institute is closely associated with the Northeast-Midwest Congressional and Senate Coalitions.  The states within the region are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.