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First Congressional District of New Mexico
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ask.heather@mail.house.gov

In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax

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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico


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Kirtland`s Fate Is Different This Time; The Fight Now Is to Keep Cannon May 13, 2005
 
Dear Friends,

Today was the day. I flew home late last night and got up early to get the word from Washington.

In 1995 Albuquerque was taken by surprise when Kirtland was on the proposed base closure list.

Everyone in New Mexico thought it was self-evident that Kirtland couldn`t close. Steve Schiff and the group of community leaders who formed the Kirtland Partnership worked hard to show the base closure commission that the Pentagon was wrong and Kirtland was saved. But it was a wake up call.

The Kirtland Partnership stayed together and one of my first meetings after being elected seven years ago was with the Kirtland Partnership.

The Kirtland Partnership made a long term commitment to market Kirtland. Through two Presidencies, four base commanders just in my time, and successive senior military and civilian leaders at the Pentagon, they have effectively explained the unique contribution of our "odd duck" of a national base to Generals who probably were never stationed here. (There are very few General officer R&D; guys.)

For my part, I worked with the rest of our delegation to keep the missions strong and the base in good shape.

One of the four key criteria for base closure is the condition of the facilities. Military construction funding is almost always added by the Congress. Very little is put in the President`s budget.

The base has been a big priority for me. I don`t ask for bells and whistles they don`t want. Each year I`ve had my staff sit down with the base leadership and identify the highest priorities for the base. Then we fought for what they needed.

Over the last 7 years, we have put over 90 million in military construction into Kirtland -- everything from upgrading the aircraft ramps to building a new visiting quarters in order to reduce operating costs for traveling airmen.

On top of that we helped get the brand new base housing through the hoops -- another $170 million in private investment.

None of this happened over night and a lot of it didn`t have much pizzazz. You don`t cut ribbons for $14 million in rebar and concrete to park airplanes. But it was what the Air Force said they needed, and the best thing we could do to increase the military value of the base was help meet their needs.

I have always opposed BRAC and I still think it is a bad idea. I will work with our Senators and the Governor and fight to keep Cannon open. I think it is a mistake to close Cannon.

Cannon is a fighter base with exceptional access to airspace. We’ve learned a lot from past BRAC rounds, and working together, we can make a strong case to commissioners that Cannon has clear military value and is an important element of our national security structure. We have a process to dispute the DoD’s analysis, and starting now, we’ll be working to persuade the commission to remove Cannon Air Force Base from the list. We have to pull together to succeed.

But if you know someone around town who has served on the Kirtland Partership, call and thank them today. They have given time, talent and funds to advocate and support Kirtland for a decade. They were in it for the long haul and it worked.

Kirtland is a "keeper".

Wish you were here,



Learn more about BRAC


NM Leaders Work to Save Cannon AFB


Fact Sheet: Keeping Kirtland Strong

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