[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BUFFALO NEWS ARTICLE: CLOSE BASE ON LONG ISLAND, NOT IN NIAGARA, SAYS 
                  PENTAGON OFFICIAL FROM REAGAN YEARS

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 24, 2005

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter into the Record an 
article that appeared in the Buffalo News on May 24. The article 
details how a former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President 
Ronald Reagan has disagreed with Secretary Rumsfeld's recommendation to 
close Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

                 [From the Buffalo News, May 24, 2005]

Close Base on Long Island, Not in Niagara, Says Pentagon Official From 
                              Reagan Years

                 (By Jerry Zremski and Sharon Linstedt)

       A former assistant secretary of defense under President 
     Ronald Reagan has rushed to the defense of the Niagara Falls 
     Air Reserve Station, saying the Pentagon should consider 
     closing a base on Long Island instead.
       Lawrence J. Korb, who oversaw personnel and base issues at 
     the Pentagon from 1981 to 1985, wrote an op-ed article for 
     the New York Times' Long Island regional edition Sunday that 
     criticized the proposed Niagara closing.
       He urged the independent commission that is reviewing the 
     Pentagon's base-closure recommendations to instead consider 
     shutting an Air National Guard station at Francis S. Gabreski 
     Airport in Westhampton Beach.
       ``It should take a close look at Niagara and Gabreski,'' 
     Korb wrote.
       The two bases perform different tasks. The Niagara base 
     services a Guard unit that performs refueling missions and an 
     Air Reserve unit that hauls cargo, while the Gabreski base 
     services a search-and-rescue Guard unit.
       Korb suggested that the search-and-rescue team be moved to 
     Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh, north of New York City, 
     and that Niagara stay open for several reasons.
       For one, he said, such a move would keep jobs in-state and 
     prevent the Niagara operations from being dispersed to 
     Arkansas, Maine and Georgia.
       ``Moreover, the Pentagon will need to spend a lot just to 
     bring Gabreski up to minimum standards,'' Korb wrote. 
     ``Paradoxically, Congress allotted Niagara more than $14 
     million last year for upgrades.''
       Korb, a native of Long Island, noted that while Gabreski 
     contributes about $100 million to Long Island's economy, the 
     Niagara base generates more than $150 million. ``Suffolk 
     County is better positioned than Niagara to absorb the 
     cutbacks,'' he said.
       In an interview, Korb said he decided to write the opinion 
     article after reviewing the Pentagon's proposed closures. 
     ``This just doesn't make sense'' that Gabreski would stay 
     open and Niagara would close, he said.
       He said that it would be very difficult for part-time air 
     personnel from Niagara to travel to out-of-state bases to 
     train and that Long Island would be better able than Western 
     New York to withstand a base closing economically.
       Korb, now a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Center for 
     American Progress in Washington, is one of Washington's most 
     prominent and oft-quoted defense experts.
       In another development, the Niagara Frontier Transportation 
     Authority board of commissioners is throwing its support 
     behind efforts to keep the Niagara Falls base open and will 
     ask NFTA workers to do the same.
       The NFTA board Monday unanimously approved a resolution 
     backing the Niagara Military Affairs Council in its efforts 
     to get the base off the list for closing.
       Commissioners also approved a plan to send letters to the 
     NFTA's 1,500 employees asking them to write to the Base 
     Realignment and Closure Commission showing their support for 
     keeping the base open.
       ``This is an important issue for the Niagara Falls 
     community and all of Western New York. I think we need a 
     full-court press,'' said Commissioner Henry M. Sloma, who 
     represents Niagara County.
       ``It makes a lot of sense to show support,'' NFTA Chairman 
     Luiz F. Kahl said of the USA Niagara-led effort to amass 
     10,000 letters before a June 27 hearing in Buffalo on the 
     Pentagon proposal.

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