[CPEO-MEF] Gallegly proposes shift in spending

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

California
Gallegly proposes shift in spending
Environmental protection not priority now, he says
By David Montero, dmontero@insidevc.com
March 18, 2003

The Navy is spending $2 million to monitor sea lions on San Nicolas
Island, but under a bill proposed by a local congressman, that money
would instead be spent on military hardware and personnel.

Congressman Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, said he pitched the bill last
week on Capitol Hill because he feared any money not geared toward
defense-related activities would leave local bases vulnerable to
closures in 2005.

"The way they establish the criteria for closures is by how much it
costs to complete a mission here as opposed to somewhere else," he said.
"The more you have to pay for infrastructure costs like environmental
protection, the more it drives up the costs of the mission."

He also said the legislation was drafted in anticipation of new
boundaries for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Gallegly said if the sanctuary expands beyond its current 1,658 square
miles, it would affect the military's ability to conduct new missile
tests at Naval Base Ventura County and Vandenberg Air Force Base.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.staronline.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_1820057,00.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~