The U.S. House Armed Services Committee has passed budget legislation that aims to prevent the Air Force from closing the 911th Airlift Wing. The wing, along with the 171st Air Refueling Wing, is located at Pittsburgh International airport.
Rep. Mark Critz (D PA-12) noted after the early morning vote that the budget bill, which hasn't become law yet, would increase funding and stop the Air Force from retiring or transferring aircraft such as the C-130 used by the 911th.
The measure adds $642 million to the Air Force operations and personnel budgets to support the aircraft.
The Air Force wants to close the base because it says the seven C-130 refueling planes there are among the oldest in the fleet. The proposed changes are part of a long-term plan to reduce military budgets.
Critz said the Air Force is making its decisions based on erroneous information and the one-year stay will give supporters time to prove that the base is among the most efficiently operated and one of the best when it comes to recruiting.
"The 911th has been on the BRAC list twice before and when they got down to looking at the real numbers… we were able to prove the 911th worth and that is why it's still there," said Critz, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. "I think we have that story again."
The bill deals with a slew of other issues beyond the 911th. It calls for construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast and restores ships slated for early retirement.
Despite the clamor for fiscal discipline, the committee crafted a military spending blueprint that's $8 billion more than the level President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to last summer in the deficit-cutting law. The panel's vote early Thursday morning was 56-5.
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the legislation meets his goal of "keeping faith with America's men and women in uniform; restoring fiscal sanity to a defense budget that is inconsistent with the threats America faces and rebuilding a force after a decade of war."
The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote on the spending blueprint next week, but the legislation will be significantly changed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where lawmakers are sticking to the lower spending level.
Over hours of sometimes testy debate, the committee backed construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, rejecting Pentagon arguments that the facility is unnecessary and Democratic complaints that the nearly $5 billion project amounts to wasteful spending in a time of tight budgets.
Republicans insisted that the site is necessary in the event that Iran or North Korea develops an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of attacking the East Coast. Democrats countered that throwing billions of dollars at a missile defense system plagued by failures made no sense, especially when the threat from the two nations is highly uncertain and many in Washington are demanding fiscal discipline.
This "would be spending up to $5 billion in the next three years on a missile defense system that doesn't work," said Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), who offered an amendment to eliminate the project from the GOP-backed bill.
The chief proponent of constructing the site, Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), said, "We need to proceed with missile defense whether this president wants to or not."
On a largely party-line vote, the panel rejected Garamendi's effort, 33-28.
Since the mid-1980s, the Pentagon has spent nearly $150 billion on missile defense programs and envisions another $44 billion over the next five years, but it is not looking to construct a facility on the East Coast.
Gen. Charles Jacoby, the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, told Congress earlier this year, "Today's threats do not require an East Coast missile field, and we do not have plans to do so."
The progress of Iranian and North Korean programs remains unclear. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Iran insists it is producing nuclear energy. North Korea suffered a failed rocket launch last month when its Unha-3 rocket broke apart, raising questions about the immediate threat to the United States from a North Korean long-range missile.
Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly, the head of the U.S. missile defense program, told Congress recently that North Korea lacks the testing for a capable system and has made little progress in its spaceflight program.
Nevertheless, the committee envisions construction of the site by the end of 2015, with the Pentagon deciding on a possible location. The bill includes $100 million to study three potential sites.
The committee rejected the Pentagon's call to mothball 18 Air Force Global Hawk drones, and it restored four Navy cruisers slated for early retirement in next year's budget.
Eight months after the military allowed gays to serve openly — and on the same day that Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage — the committee backed measures limiting the rights of gays and lesbians.
Conservative Republicans still angry with the end to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military pressed two measures.
"The president has repealed 'don't ask, don't tell' and is using the military as props to promote his gay agenda," said Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who is running for Senate.
The committee, on a vote of 37-24, backed an amendment that barred same-sex marriages or "marriage-like" ceremonies on military installations. The panel also endorsed an Akin amendment that said the services should accommodate the rights of conscience of members of the services and chaplains who are morally or religiously opposed to expressions of human sexuality.
In an odd exchange, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) questioned what would happen if a service member literally interpreted the Old Testament's Leviticus, which considers homosexuality an abomination. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) disputed her contention that was part of the Bible, saying it was the Old Testament.
"Members of this committee are looking to turn back the clock and find new ways to discriminate against gay and lesbian service members," said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the committee. "These men and women serve with honor and distinction, and this amendment sends a message that their service is not valued."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
