SJ0018 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0018 LRB094 10762 HSS 41202 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush has called for a 2005 round of defense base realignment and closure (BRAC); and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of Defense has stated it wants to trim about 25% of its infrastructure and every one of the nation's 425 bases is at risk; and

WHEREAS, Secretary of Defense Rumsfield has predicted the 2005 BRAC round will close 100 facilities and save $7 billion that will be used for advanced weapons systems and improving the quality of life for military members; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Defense forwards its list of military installations recommended for realignment and closure to the BRAC Commission for review on May 16th, 2005; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois supports the United States Government's defense posture with excellent military bases and industrial facilities; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has four military installations in danger of being closed - Peoria Air National Guard Base, Rock Island Arsenal, Scott Air Force Base, and Springfield National Guard Base; and

WHEREAS, These military and industrial operations are centrally located and are cost effective; and

WHEREAS, When viewed in light of the BRAC military value and special considerations selection criteria, it is clear that each installation is crucial for the defense of this nation and is serving the country in a highly cost-efficient manner; and

WHEREAS, Peoria Air National Guard, located at the Greater Peoria Airport in Peoria, Illinois, has approximately 383 full-time equivalent employees and an additional 938 part time positions; the total impact to the community is $45.5 million in spending and $39.2 million in compensation with a total economic impact of $250 million dollars; the 182nd Airlift Wing at Greater Peoria Regional Airport has a new, modern facility, is upgrading its equipment and has a long-term lease; the 182nd flies the C-130E aircraft and more recently will be receiving C-130H3s to replace their "E" model aircraft; this Wing is one of the leaders in the airlift business, continues to be mobilized in support of "Operation Iraqi Freedom", and has had troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; the base was rebuilt in the mid-1990s and is relatively new in comparison to others; the base was re-built to accommodate numerous and diverse missions for the future; the Peoria Air National Guard has about 230 unused acres fit for future use; the Airlift Wing possesses two hangars for maintenance; the base has two active runways of 10,000 ft. and 8,000 ft. which will accommodate most airlift transport and tanker aircraft; the 182nd Airlift Wing has various Expeditionary Combat Support units which include security police, communications, civil engineering, services, supply, personnel, an air support operations center, air support operations, combat communications, and an Air Force band; small arms range and munitions storage capability exist on base, and the civil support team is Illinois' first responder for disaster relief and emergencies; and

WHEREAS, The Rock Island Arsenal is strategically located on an island in the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois and is the second largest employer in the Quad City region with an estimated strength of over 6,300 jobs, and it supports over 12,600 additional jobs in the surrounding communities; the total annual impact of the base is $1.16 billion to the local community; the Joint Manufacturing Technology Center (JMTC) on Rock Island Arsenal is a vertically integrated facility with the only Department of Army foundry; Rock Island Arsenal is noted for its expertise in the manufacture of weapons and weapons components; every phase of development and production is available from prototype to full-scale production of major items, spare parts, and repair items; Rock Island Arsenal is home of approximately 50 Department of Defense organizations comprised of a multi-faceted dynamic workforce unlike any other in the United States; the Arsenal provides the base operations support to all tenant activities, and has its own logistics and industrial facilities that provide critical products and services to all of the Armed Services; the Arsenal is a primary provider of armor for Hummers and has recently been working on an emergency request for machine gun pedestals for light military vehicles; and

WHEREAS, Scott Air Force Base, located in St. Clair County in Southwestern Illinois, is the largest employer in Southwest Illinois and has an effect on the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 people in the metro east region; Scott Air Force Base employs over 13,000 people, and the loss of these individuals and their families and retirees would have an adverse impact upon the communities in Southwestern Illinois; the estimated annual impact of Scott Air Force Base is over $2.1 billion to the region; the Scott Air Force Base organizations are integral to the day-to-day execution of National Security Policy, and their daily operations connect the installation directly to the nation's war-fighters at risk in the Global War on Terrorism and serving the United States in other missions worldwide; its central location in the Midwest makes it the perfect spot for the headquarters of the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), Defense Information Technology Contracting Office (DITCO), Air Force Mobility Command (AMC), and the single CONUS interface to the Defense Information Systems Network; the nearby MidAmerica Airport provides access to an additional two runways of 8,000 ft. and 10,000 ft. which are capable of supporting any-size military or commercial aircraft; Scott is home to the Navy's Military Sealift Command and the Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command; it is also home to the 18th Air Force Headquarters, the 375th Airlift Wing, the 932nd Airlift Wing Air Force Reserve, and the 126th Illinois Air National Guard Refueling Wing; the Base has had significant investment in critical facilities including a $2.3 billion plant replacement value (PRV); there are nearly 100 acres on-base with an additional 630 contiguous acres owned by St. Clair County that could be used if necessary, and the Base is in a strategic location in the United States Midwest, near St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois, that could be threatened by the Global War on Terrorism; and

WHEREAS, Springfield Air National Guard located in Springfield, Illinois, provides $2,450,000 for annual commercial services/vendors and $182,000 annually for local hotels; the economic impact is estimated to be $51 million annually to the nearby area including the counties of Sangamon, Logan, Macon, Christian, Montgomery, Macoupin, Morgan, Cass, and Menard; it employs 343 full-time equivalent and 938 part-time positions; the 183rd Fighter Wing is a premier F-16C Unit that has a long and proud tradition in the fighter mission, including being the first unit with the F-84F in the 1950s and the F-4C in the 1970s; since converting to the F-16 aircraft, the Wing has proven itself continually with its Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) rotations and other demanding missions; the Unit is centrally located to effectively and efficiently utilize seven MOAs and five training ranges which allow for specialized training; the Springfield Air National Guard has a state-of-the-art, 45,000-square-foot, $10 million composite support facility now under construction; and the Guard has two runways of 8,000 ft. and 7,000 ft. which are more than adequate to accommodate fighter aircraft with a third runway of 5,300 ft. which could potentially be made available for use; and

WHEREAS, The shutdown of these four military bases would have extremely adverse economic and social effects upon the local communities around the bases and to the State of Illinois as a whole; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the Department of Defense and the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to save these four military installations from closure due to their clear military and local value factors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to the Department of Defense, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and to each member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.