Will Biden review decision to move Space Command to Alabama?
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado's federal delegation has called on President Joe Biden to stop all actions related to moving U.S. Space Command to Huntsville, Alabama.
Earlier this month, the Air Force announced that the preferred location for the Space Command would be at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville.
All nine of Colorado's federal lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, are asking President Biden to review the decision to move the headquarters.
The letter lawmakers sent to President Biden on Tuesday states the move "undermines our ability to respond to threats in space and is disruptive to the current mission." The letter focuses on national security, personnel, political influence, lack of transparency, and lack of sufficient data during the selection process.
Commander Army Gen. James H. Dickinson who leads Space Command defended the decision to move the headquarters in an interview posted on the Department of Defense website on Tuesday.
"The secretary selected Huntsville, out of a pool of extremely strong contenders, because it compared more favorably across a number of factors used to determine the best host city for headquarters. Those factors included mission, infrastructure, capacity, community support, and, quite frankly, cost to the Department of Defense," Gen. Dickinson said.
Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper says he has a hard time believing moving Space Command will actually save the Department of Defense money.
Hickenlooper told KRDO he has a meeting with the Secretary of Defense next week and will be asking about the decision to move Space Command.
The Colorado Springs Chamber previously estimated it could cost up to $2 billion to move the headquarters to Redstone Arsenal.
“Colorado Springs is a place military personnel, Air Force personnel of all sorts love living. So, that generally drives your cost down. And the fact that it’s already here, it’s incumbent, suggests that savings and personnel would have to be dramatic, everything else being equal," Sen. Hickenlooper said.
The newly sworn-in Senator acknowledged that there may be some difference in construction costs but he didn't believe that the lower construction costs would outweigh the cost of a large move.
Hickenlooper said he wants to see the documents grading the criteria of those who competed for Space Command. He said the former Air Force Secretary pledged to provide them but hasn't done so yet.
“A firm commitment that they would give us every worksheet, all of the process by which the decision was made, all of the calculus. I still haven’t seen that yet," Hickenlooper said.
The White House has not yet responded to KRDO's question about whether or not the President will review the situation.
