For Immediate Release

May 13, 2005

Washington, DC - Congressman Gene Green released the following statement upon learning that Ellington Field was on the Department of Defense's list of recommendations to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC).

 

“The recommendations for base closures and realignments presented to the BRAC Commission today by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will have a profound impact on military units in and around Houston.

 

 “To begin with, the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to retire the 15 F-16s currently at Ellington Field.  In order to preserve the homeland defense Air Sovereignty Alert, aircraft will be assigned from elsewhere and operate from Ellington on a rotational basis as tasked by US Northern Command.  This is not the outcome we were anticipating. 

 

“While there will still be the normal four aircrafts on alert at Ellington to protect Houston, we had worked to preserve all the F-16s and the current mission of the 147th.  The economic benefit for the DoD will be minimal, as well.  The estimated cost to implement this recommendation is $1.6 million, while the estimated annual savings will be $0.4 million, or $3.6 million over 20 years.  With an annual budget of nearly $500 billion, the cost of maintaining the 147th would have been a fraction of a percentage of their annual budget.   Security is our main concern.  While this process will save the DoD several million dollars, we must ensure Houston is secure.

 

“The other major impact to the area from Secretary Rumsfeld’s recommendations will be an influx of units to a new Armed Forces Reserve Center with a Field Maintenance Shop in Houston.  The Secretary’s recommendations would close the United States Army Reserve Center in Pasadena, as well as move the Baytown, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Port Neches, Ellington Field and Orange, TX Army Reserve National Guard Readiness Centers to the new Armed Forces Reserve Center in Northwest Houston.

 

“I will work with the Houston Delegation to ensure effective air security for the Port of Houston, the Houston petrochemical complex, NASA’s Johnson’s Space Center, and the nearly five million people who reside in the nations’ fourth largest city.”

 

 

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