Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik continued her staunch advocacy for the Department of Defense to make their long-overdue decision on a location for an East Coast Missile Defense Site, and for the designation of Fort Drum as the site.
In yesterday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing on FY20 Priorities for Missile Defense and Missile Defeat Programs, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Mike Turner noted that Congresswoman Stefanik has been the most vocal advocate and fighter for the designation of an East Coast Missile Defense Site as soon as possible. You can read the full transcript of his opening remarks here.
Ranking Member Turner: “And the Department has once again failed to make a designation on an East Coast Missile Defense site which Congress has carried supportive language on since the NDAA passed for Fiscal Year 2013. Working with my colleague, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, I have called for the Department to publicly announce the location of such a site.
On two occasions, Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan has committed, on the record, to fulfilling Congress’ intent on this important matter. On March 26th, in an open hearing of our Full Committee on the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Budget, the Acting Secretary stated to Congresswoman Stefanik that we can count on him sharing the site designation with our Committee.”
“Our Congressional intent was very clear,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “The environmental impact study was funded and authorized by Congress, and we had language in previous NDAAs that would require an announcement of the preferred [East Coast Missile Defense] site. The Secretary of Defense sat in this very Committee room and said on the record and under oath that he intended to meet our request to voluntarily provide that information to Congress. Let me be perfectly clear: our expectation is that we will hear from the Secretary of Defense what the preferred site is. Three communities have worked incredibly hard to advocate on behalf of this, one of which is Fort Drum in my district, which I believe is the strongest contender. I look forward to hearing feedback from the Department of Defense today in response to my comments.”
You can watch Congresswoman Stefanik’s full comments in the hearing here and below.
