U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL07) and Robert Aderholt (R-AL04) released a joint statement in support of the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville as the preferred location for U.S. Space Command Headquarters:
“There is no better place for our nation’s Space Command headquarters than the Rocket City,” Aderholt and Sewell wrote in the statement. “Huntsville is the world’s premier hub for space exploration and innovation, and we resoundingly support the 2021 decision to locate it there. We stand by the Air Force’s decision that Huntsville is the best and only home for U.S. Space Command. We look forward to reviewing the Government Accountability Office’s report and remain confident that an objective analysis of the facts will yield the same conclusion.”
Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama was chosen by the U.S. Air Force in January 2021 to be the permanent site for the U.S. Space Command headquarters. The two Alabama Congress members insist that this decision was made following a fulsome and transparent site selection process. Congressional colleagues from locations that lost the competition have requested that two government agencies, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, investigate the U.S. Air Force’s basing process. The GAO report will be publicly released in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet and U.S. Representatives Doug Lamborn and Jason Crow, all from the Colorado delegation, released a statement after being briefed on the draft GAO report on the decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama.
“We have said before that the U.S. Space Command basing decision was the result of a flawed and untested process that lacked transparency and neglected key national security and cost considerations,” the Colorado delegation wrote. “After reviewing the draft GAO report, we are even more concerned about the questionable decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama.
“Putin’s war on Ukraine and China’s space expansion underscore the need for U.S. Space Command to reach full operational capability as soon as possible. We cannot afford any operational disruptions or delays to the mission currently being conducted at Peterson Space Force Base, which is why U.S. Space Command must remain in Colorado. We will continue to work on a bipartisan basis to urge the Biden Administration to keep U.S. Space Command at Peterson. Colorado Springs is the best and only home for U.S. Space Command. We look forward to the report’s public release in the near future.”
In Jan. 2021, following the relocation announcement, Bennet and Hickenlooper released a statement denouncing the decision and expressing concern that the Trump White House influenced the decision for political reasons.
At that time, Hickenlooper and Bennet also wrote a letter from the entire Colorado Congressional Delegation that urged President Joe Biden (D) to suspend the Trump Administration’s decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Huntsville, Ala. until the administration conducts a thorough review.
In June 2021, Hickenlooper, Bennet and U.S. Representatives Jason Crow and Doug Lamborn along with a bipartisan majority of the Colorado Congressional Delegation invited Vice President Kamala Harris (D) to visit Colorado. The group next sent a letter to Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall urging him to suspend the U.S. Space Command move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville until the administration conducts a thorough review.
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