United States Senator Jerry Moran has been named the Chair of the Senate Appropriations SubCommittee on Military Construction.
As Chair of the SubCommittee, Moran will be involved in the appropriations process for any construction, renovation, or new facilities at installations across the country and the world. Moran said that it’s a position he sought after in order to protect the military installations in Kansas – i.e. Fort Riley.
Reports out of Washington, D.C. are indicating talk of a potential BRAC – base realignment and closing.
“We know from the times that we had Fort Riley considered by the Army – most recently in the last couple of years the environmental assessment – that one of the things that has always stood out in the analysis about the value of Fort Riley and any intentions to downsize its scope within the Department of the Army has been fought back,” said Moran. “It has been in part, due to the significant investment that has been made at Fort Riley over the last decade.”
The investments to housing, healthcare and education at Fort Riley keep the installation viable.
“One of the reasons [we] spent so much time trying to get the Department of the Army to do the things necessary along with the Army Corps of Engineers to get Irwin Army Community Hospital open; the Army sees the investment that’s been made at Fort Riley into the welfare and benefit of our soldiers and their families,” said Moran. “That’s something that adds to the equation when you look at what should happen at an installation.”
Moran said that the Democrat Minority Leader of the House Armed Services Committee has or is planning to introduce legislation to begin the process of a BRAC; something Moran says he and fellow colleagues will strongly oppose.
“If there is a BRAC coming – and there’s certainly no indication that anything is around the corner – it would be 4, 5, 6 years down the road, but again it highlights the importance of making infrastructure investments in facilities in Kansas so that when and if a BRAC comes, we’re in a much better position to defend Fort Riley in that process,” said Moran.
Moran said there will be continued discussions with the Department of the Army to protect Kansas’ military installations.