093_HR0345

 
                                     LRB093 11997 HSS 16635 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, Another round of Base  Realignment  and  Closure
 3    (BRAC) is scheduled for 2005; Illinois has two military bases
 4    in  danger  of  being closed; the shutdown of either of these
 5    military bases would  have  extremely  adverse  economic  and
 6    social  effects  upon  the local communities around the bases
 7    and to the State of Illinois as a whole; and

 8        WHEREAS, World War I pilots trained on a small  field  in
 9    the Shiloh Valley Township near Belleville, Illinois; and

10        WHEREAS,  "Scott  Field",  named  after Corporal Frank S.
11    Scott, the first enlisted person to be killed in an  aviation
12    crash,  officially opened for flying instruction in 1917, and
13    in 1922, the Air Service Balloon and Airship  School  opened;
14    and

15        WHEREAS, Today, Scott Air Force Base, located just thirty
16    miles  from  St.  Louis, is the third largest employer in the
17    St. Louis metropolitan region, with a total  annual  economic
18    impact  of nearly $2 billion; Scott AFB is home to the United
19    States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM),  comprised  of  the
20    U.S.  Air Force's Air Mobility Command (AMC), the U.S. Army's
21    Military Traffic Management  Command,  and  the  U.S.  Navy's
22    Military  Sealift  Command;  additional  commands include the
23    U.S. Air Force Command, Control, Communications, and Computer
24    Agency (AFC4A), and the Air Weather Service; and

25        WHEREAS, Scott AFB is home to  the  375th  Airlift  Wing,
26    which manages the domestic aeromedical evacuation system, the
27    U.S. Air Force Reserve's 932nd Aeromedical Airlift Group, and
28    the 126th Air National Guard Refueling Wing; and

29        WHEREAS,  Nearly  6,500 military and 3,500 civilians work
30    at Scott Air Force Base, a complex which now occupies  almost
31    4,000  acres  with 900 buildings, and holds 50 C-21 Learjets,
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11997 HSS 16635 r
 1    10 C-9 aeromedical    airlifters,  11  KC-135  air  refueling
 2    tankers, and visiting aircraft; and

 3        WHEREAS,   Scott   AFB   has  its  own  police  and  fire
 4    departments, hospital, restaurants,  movie  theater,  service
 5    stations,  grocery, library, bank, and housing; therefore, be
 6    it

 7        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
 8    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
 9    we urge  the  Governor  of  Illinois,  the  Illinois  General
10    Assembly,  and  the Illinois congressional delegation to make
11    the effort of saving Scott Air Force Base a top priority; and
12    be it further

13        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
14    delivered  to the Governor and to each member of the Illinois
15    congressional delegation.