Top, the gate at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, and bottom, Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. (AL.com/TNS, Duncan Wood/U.S. Air Force )
(Tribune News Service) — Alabama congressional representatives are moving to block any new construction or office leasing in Colorado for the U.S. Space Command headquarters there, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt’s office confirmed today.
The spending freeze would remain until “an official decision” is made on the command’s permanent headquarters location, according to Aderholt press secretary Matt Reed. The measure to order the freeze is also being supported by other Alabama representatives including Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell.
Aderholt is responding to news reports that new spending at the Colorado base and a cut in Space Command headquarters personnel are undermining the official basing process. NBC News also reported May 17 that “some defense and congressional officials” also believe President Biden’s administration wants to stop the command’s move to Alabama “in part because of concerns about the state’s restrictive abortion law.”
The measure to block spending on the headquarters in Colorado will be added to the annual federal spending bill for FY 2024 already passed by the House Appropriations subcommittee for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Reed said.
Colorado Springs and Huntsville were finalists in the Pentagon’s ranking of bases that wanted to host the Space Command’s permanent headquarters. The command was started in Colorado Springs, but the large Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., ranked best in the final comparison. Redstone already holds multiple military commands and offices, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and a growing FBI complex.
In the original base selection process, the Air Force sent a team of experts to the two finalist cities for a “qualitative and comprehensive” review. The team looked at the two bases and their surrounding communities in terms of whether the bases had room to grow and to host employees and their families. Factors included schools, medical care, cost of living, a healthy jobs market for spouses and the availability of quality, affordable housing off base. The Air Force designated Huntsville its “preferred” site after that review.
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