“For the sake of our military, for our national security, and for Alabama, I’m going to keep advocating for Huntsville until SPACECOM finally takes its rightful place in Rocket City.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville authored the following op-ed in 1819 News in response to latest reports about the Biden administration threatening to undermine the U.S. Air Force’s decision to permanently locate U.S. Space Command to Huntsville. The op-ed reinforces Huntsville as the best location for U.S. Space Command, and reiterates Senator Tuberville’s commitment to continue advocating for SPACECOM to come to Huntsville as Alabama’s voice on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
Excerpts from the op-ed can be found below, and complete text can be found here.
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
1819 News
“It should be obvious that Huntsville is the ideal spot for Space Command.”
“But Democrats in Washington never let the facts get in the way of good politics. Since President Joe Biden took office, Colorado Democrats have demanded the decision be put through two more rounds of government reviews. Unfortunately forthem, the additional reviews only confirmed that Huntsville was the best location. The second review even found that the decision-making process had been politically biased—against Alabama!”
“First, Huntsville was selected over 60 other possible locations on the basis of 21 factual criteria. Abortion wasn’t one of them. Alabama law was already very pro-life when the Air Force made its decision. The idea that Alabama’s pro-life laws cancel out Huntsville’s advantages over all other locations is just a desperate, last-second objection promoted by Democrat politicians in Colorado. The argument is so ridiculous that even an anonymous White House official denied that it is a consideration, and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall denied it publicly on Monday.”
“If abortion were a reason to deny SPACECOM for Huntsville, then it would set a dangerous precedent. Every other red state in America would have to wonder if they were going to be stripped of their military bases. Does Biden want to close Fort Cavazos in Texas? Does Biden want to close Fort Bragg in North Carolina, one of the most populous military bases in the world?”
“In fact, Colorado didn’t even make the top three. The second-place finisher to Huntsville was Omaha, NE, and third place was San Antonio. Nebraska has relatively liberal abortion laws, and Texas has strong pro-life laws like Alabama. Yet both are red states, and both appear to be getting the same treatment as Huntsville. Is this a coincidence?”
“The president needs to do what’s best for SPACECOM, not the Democrat Party. Space will continue to play a larger and larger role in our society and in our national defense. When the next war comes, we need to be ready to fight and win in space.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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