Date: 2005-10-27
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I am proud to follow my neighbor from Texas . Ellington is in his district. but I am the next closest Member. I rise to expressmy disapproval for the recommendations of the Defense Base Realignment and Closure and urge my colleagues to support the gentleman from Illinois resolution. of which I am a proud cosponsor. This is the most illadvised. illtimed round in base closure history. We currently have men and women fighting in two countries. and we passed three large supplemental requests. and the fourth likely in the next few months. We are in the process of closing bases overseas and bringing them home. Given these uncertainties. we cannot know what our base needs or our threat needs will be for the next 5. 10 or 20 years. Ellington is home to the 147th Air National Guard Wing. Texas Air National Guard Wing. Houston is the fourth largest city in our Nation. It is our home and has a huge petrochemical complex that accounts for nearly half of the Nations base petrochemical production. The Houston ship channel in the Port of Houston handled more foreign tonnage than any other port. We have the Texas Medical Center and NASAs Johnson Space Center. One of the most vulnerable targets in the area is the petrochemical complex. along with these other assets. Yet the base closure commission on a close vote decided to close Ellington. Now. what they are doing is they are saying that we are going to provide service from San Antonio. Texas. The problem is that is 23 minutes away. As we know. an airborne attack on a refinery complex could seriously disrupt our Nations energy supply. causing major nationwide economic impacts. An attack on a chemical plant could result in a hazardous release and thousands of casualties. Currently our 147th Air Wing provides air security in the area. and the solution from the Pentagonis rotating several planes to fly on alert out of Ellington. which provides a- much smaller deterrent than having a full squadron. What would happen if we had multiple planes that are attacking different facilities? I urge a "yes" vote on the resolution. Mr. Chairman. I rise to express my disapproval with the recommendations made by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. and to urge my colleagues to support this resolution. This is the most illadvised and illtimed round in the history of Base Realignments and Closures. We currently have men and women fighting in two countries. we have passed three of the largest supplemental requests in our Nations history with a fourth likely in the next several months. and we are in the process of closing bases overseas and bringing troops home. Given these uncertainties. we cannot begin to know what our basing needs will be 5. 10. or 20 years down the road. However. instead of postponing this round of closures for 2 or 3 years like many members of the House and Senate supported. one of the most contentious rounds of BRAC was pushed through. Like many other communities across the country. the district I represent was affected by the Defense Departments plan to consolidate Air National Guard units. leaving one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country less prepared to resp6nd to a terrorist attack. Houston is the fourth largest city in the Na-. tion. and is home to a petrochemical complex that accounts for nearly half of the Nations base petrochemical production capacity. The Houston shipping channel and the Port of Houston handle more foreign tonnage than any other U.S. port. Also. we have NASAs Johnson Space Center. and the Texas Medical Center. One of the most vulnerable targets in the area. and possibly the country. is the petrochemical complex. a tremendous complex that stretches the length of the Houston Ship Channel and continues along the coast through Beaumont. Texas. We have seen in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita the negative effects caused by disruptions in our oil supply and refining capacity. and leaving this area unprotected is leaving the door open to a terrorist attack on this critical infrastructure. The Port of Houston is the second largest petrochemical complex in the world. and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. which produces over 35 percent of the Nations gasoline at a great many refineries. Numerous chemical plants also line the channel. producing a number of volatile compounds. According to the U.S. Coast Guard. 7.600 deep draft vessels arrive each year. and 60 percent of those ships carry sensitive oil/ chemical cargos. An airborne attack on the refinery chemical complex could seriously disrupt the Nations energy supply. causing major nationwide economic impacts. An attack on a chemical plant could result in a hazardous release with thousands of casualties. Currently the 147th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard provides air security in the area and could respond to a threat on the complex or at the port in minutes because of the close proximity. Rotating several planes to fly on alert out of Ellington. provides a much smaller deterrent thanaving a full squadron permanently stationed. there. and would not provide enough planes to respond to multiple attacks on multiple targets in the area. Meanwhile the closest full squadron would be in San Antonio. and would take approximately 23 minutes longer to respond to a threat than the F16s at Ellington can currently provide. In addition to providing security for the Houston area. the 147th is capable of providing precision strikes. close air support. offensive counter air. defensive counter air. and suppression of enemy air defenses. The area around Ellington also provides the 147th with excellent training airspace. including overwater airtoair training on the Gulf of Mexico allowing them to perform supersonic flights and lights out training from the surface to 50.000 feet. Terrorists have proven their intent and capability to attack ground targets with multiple aircraft and retiring the 147th Fighter Wings F16s leaves Houston vulnerable to an attack. The savings estimated in the DoDs BRAC report are minimal and do not justify moving the F16s away from Ellington. while it is estimated that retiring the F16s will save DoD $3.6 million over 20 years. an attack on any of the possible targets listed above. especially the petrochemical facilities and Port of Houston. would cost our national economy billions of dollars. Mr. Chairman. this round of BRAC is illadvised and illtimed and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.