Alabama Leaders React
BY WIL CREWS
SPORTSCREWS@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
ALABAMA —
President Joe Biden announced on July 31 that the U.S. Space Command Headquarters would remain in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the previous Trump administration to move it to Huntsville, Alabama.
The choice ended months of deliberation, but Alabama state government representatives did not accept the decision lightly.
Gov. Kay Ivey said this on Biden’s reversal: “The White House choosing not to locate Space Command Headquarters in Alabama — the rightful selection — is very simply the wrong decision for national security. The fact that a CNN reporter is who first delivered the news to Alabama should say it all.”
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tubberville released his own statement regarding the decision, saying, “Over two and a half years ago, the Air Force chose Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville for the headquarters of Space Command over 59 other cities on the basis of 21 different criteria.
“As soon as Joe Biden took office, he paused movement on that decision and inserted politics into what had been a fair and objective competition — not because the facts had changed, but because the political party of the sitting president had changed. The Biden Administration has been talking a lot about readiness over the past few months, but no administration has done more to damage our military readiness in my lifetime. They’ve politicized our military, destroyed our recruiting, misused our tax dollars for their extremist social agenda and now they are putting Space Command headquarters in a location that didn’t even make the top three. They are doing this at a time when space is only becoming more important for national security.
“It is also shameful that the administration waited until Congress had gone into recess and already passed next year’s defense budget before announcing this decision. The top three choices for Space Command headquarters were all in red states — Alabama, Nebraska and Texas. Colorado didn’t even come close. This decision to bypass the three most qualified sites looks like blatant patronage politics, and it sets a dangerous precedent that military bases are now to be used as rewards for political supporters rather than for our security.
“There remain serious questions as to whether the Air Force illegally used taxpayer dollars to upgrade facilities in Colorado Springs. I hope that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers will continue his investigation into that matter.”
Tubberville, like many Alabama representatives, promised to fight the decision, saying “This is absolutely not over.”
U.S. Rep Mike Rogers echoed Tubberville’s sentiment, claiming the Biden Administration’s decision warranted, “the opening of a Congressional investigation.”
One thing that remained consistent among the reactions of Alabama representatives, including Ivey, Tubberville and Rogers, was the fact that they said they believe this decision was based on political loyalties, not what is best for national security.
Rogers said, “Huntsville, Alabama, was chosen to be the headquarters of U.S. Space Command because it was the strongest location and investigations by the DoD IG and GAO have upheld this decision. Yet, the Biden administration decided to make Colorado Springs, Colorado, which came in fifth in the Selection Phase, the location of the headquarters for U.S. Space Command. It’s clear that far-left politics, not national security, was the driving force behind this decision.”