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Stefanik, Derrick support missile site at Fort Drum

Watertown Daily Times

WATERTOWN – One of the most significant challenges facing the U.S. military, says U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, is the uncertain future of the nation’s defense budget.

Stefanik, a Republican from Willsboro who is running for re-election to New York’s 21st Congressional District seat, said the threat of federal sequestration budget cuts always looms, as they are expected to return in the 2018 fiscal year. Because of this, Stefanik said, it’s difficult to devise a long-term strategy.

“Sequestration has had a negative impact on our military readiness, and it hasn’t allowed the department of defense to plan on the long term,” she said.

Last summer, Fort Drum avoided substantial troop cuts, which were part of an Army move to reduce 490,000 active soldiers to 450,000 by the 2017 fiscal year, while other military bases across the nation lost several hundred troops. Stefanik had worked with members of the New York delegation to keep Fort Drum cuts at bay. In the end, it lost only 28 troops.

But it doesn’t mean the base is out of the woods yet. Stefanik said she is focused on ensuring a new round of Base Realignment and Closure does not come to fruition. The Department of Defense said in an April report that it has approximately 22 percent excess infrastructure, primarily within the Army and the Air Force. Plattsburgh Air Force Base was closed in a previous BRAC round, in 1995.

A member of the House Armed Services Committee, Stefanik has remained close to defense policy in her first term. She incorporated language in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that requires the U.S. Department of Defense to develop strategies to prevent social media use in the recruitment of violent extremists. The act also contained a provision she sponsored in March that will increase joint research efforts by the United States and Israel to detect and destroy ballistic missiles. Within that realm, a missile defense site for the North Country has been high on her wish list, as Fort Drum remains a highly considered site for an East Coast missile defense system.

According to military research, the creation of a missile site at Fort Drum, near Route 3A, would provide approximately 650 to 850 jobs and an estimated sales tax boost of $1.65 million annually. The region would see a $27 million increase in economic value annually, and about 340 jobs would be indirectly created. Overall, construction would increase the region’s value by $190 million and create 1,836 indirect jobs.

Retired Army Col. William “Mike” Derrick, the Democratic candidate for the seat, also has his eyes on that plan. The Peru, New York, resident said he would support a missile defense site at Fort Drum, citing his familiarity with the topic – he worked in missile defense for the last five years of his military career, working with allies in the Pacific and in the Middle East.

He noted that while the missile defense technology is, in essence, still in its research and development phase, Fort Drum would be an ideal site because it already has the infrastructure to reduce costs and make it sustainable over time.

If elected, Derrick said he would want to serve on the House Armed Services Committee, like Stefanik. Asked how he would be able to top her first term on the committee, he said his military career could give him a leg up.

“I think anyone who takes a seat on a congressional committee should bring value to that seat, should bring expertise, something to make this nation better,” Derrick said.

Stefanik recently told North Country Public Radio that regardless of who becomes the next commander in chief, whether it’s Donald J. Trump or Hillary R. Clinton, the House Armed Services Committee can ensure executive decisions are sound. When asked to expand on this, Stefanik said the committee’s charge in writing and overseeing national defense policy can keep presidential decisions within the bounds of the law.

In stark contrast to Stefanik’s concerns about the nation’s military, Green Party candidate Matthew J. Funiciello, a Glens Falls baker, wants to eliminate half of the nation’s military and repurpose soldiers at home.

Funiciello said U.S. military engagement in other countries has contributed to the growth of terrorism overseas and at home, adding that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks should have been properly investigated to justify military intervention in the Middle East.

To curb terrorism, Funiciello said, the United State should decrease military spending substantially and put more money toward domestic projects. He proposed a 50 percent cut in military spending, which would drastically reduce the number of military bases abroad.

“It’s a lot cheaper to give people blankets and food than it is to kill them,” Funiciello said.

But with half of the country’s military jobs cut, Funiciello said, employment for soldiers can be found elsewhere, adding that a “Green New Deal” seeking to create 18 million jobs to combat climate change through sustainability projects would be an adequate alternative to military service.

“If that solider is done carrying a gun, we bring them home and employ them with renewable energy projects,” he said. “We’ll make every effort to help them stick around.”

(Editor’s note: Four daily newspapers in the North Country – the Enterprise, Post-Star of Glens Falls, Watertown Daily Times and Press-Republican of Plattsburgh – are sharing content to better cover New York’s 21st Congressional District.)

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