POLLED OUT OF COMMITTEE

MAJORITY FAVORABLE

March 1, 2011

H. 3714

Introduced by Reps. Gilliard, Stavrinakis, McCoy, Clyburn, Anderson, Daning, McEachern, Crosby, Limehouse, Sottile, R.L. Brown, Clemmons, Dillard, Herbkersman, Hosey, Mack, Patrick and Whipper

S. Printed 3/1/11--S.    [SEC 3/2/11 12:53 PM]

Read the first time February 17, 2011.

To whom was referred a Concurrent Resolution (H. 3714) to commemorate the union of the Charleston Air Force Base and Naval Weapons Station Charleston, renamed Joint Base Charleston, and to commend Joint Base Charleston, etc., respectfully

Has polled the Concurrent Resolution out majority favorable.

TO COMMEMORATE THE UNION OF THE CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE AND NAVAL WEAPONS STATION CHARLESTON, RENAMED JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, AND TO COMMEND JOINT BASE CHARLESTON FOR ITS OVERALL IMPORTANCE TO THE STATE AND OUR NATIONAL SECURITY, AND TO COMMEND THE DEDICATED MEN AND WOMEN THERE SERVING THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Whereas, the union of Charleston Air Force Base and Naval Weapons Station Charleston, renamed Joint Base Charleston, has been proudly serving our nation and South Carolina since 1941; and

Whereas, Joint Base Charleston is unique among military bases in that it hosts fifty-three tenant organizations comprised of Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, Homeland Security, and other important Department of Defense missions; and

Whereas, Joint Base Charleston contains and manages an international airport, sixty C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, more than thirty-eight miles of railroad, sixteen miles of shoreline, and three working deep-water piers; and

Whereas, Joint Base Charleston is becoming a joint logistics, transportation, and engineering hub by moving people, vehicles, munitions, and supplies via air, land, sea, and rail; and

Whereas, Charleston's 437th Airlift Wing operates and maintains the Air Force's largest C-17 Globemaster III fleet with sixty aircraft, providing strategic and tactical airlift, medical evacuation, and airdrop for America and its allies, supporting worldwide operations; and

Whereas, Charleston is the busiest C-17 base in the United States with a workload twenty percent greater than the next highest base and forty-six percent of Air Mobility Command's C-17 total airlift operations; and

Whereas, Charleston was the staging base for all C-17s supporting Operation Unified Response with earthquake relief to Haiti and managed five hundred seventy-three missions, twenty-two hundred tons of supplies, and more than six hundred passengers, of which the 437th Airlift Wing flew two hundred eighty-eight missions with one thousand fifty tons of cargo, and its Aerial Port loaded the first mission enabling the relief supplies to be in Haiti within forty-eight hours of the earthquake; and

Whereas, Charleston was also the United States' C-17 staging base for the Afghanistan surge, executing five hundred seventy-three missions with more than twenty-six hundred passengers and five and a half thousand tons of cargo, taking the fight to the enemy; and

Whereas, in one year, Charleston's 437th Airlift Wing performed ten thousand six hundred twenty missions flying seventy-seven thousand seven hundred seventy-five hours, carrying three thousand two hundred one passengers and two hundred thousand seven hundred forty-five tons of cargo. In this period, the 437th led life-saving efforts with ninety Aeromedical Evacuation flights transporting five hundred sixty-seven patients; and

Whereas, Charleston's 315th Airlift Wing is an exceptional reserve associate wing working with the active-duty members, and itself flying more than seventeen thousand hours; moving thirty-eight thousand six hundred eighty-two passengers and forty-nine thousand five hundred fifty-four tons of cargo on five hundred forty-two missions supporting the war fighters, Haiti relief, the National Disaster Medical System, and the Denton Amendment that provides for direct humanitarian assistance to people throughout the world in need; and

Whereas, Joint Base Charleston is the region's largest employer with eight thousand two hundred fifty-seven active-duty military, three thousand four hundred eighty-three reservists, three thousand nine hundred forty-eight government civilian employees, and six thousand one hundred twelve contractors for a total employment of twenty-one thousand eight hundred people, and the base supports an additional forty-three thousand four hundred five dependents, and fourteen thousand one hundred fifty-nine retirees, for a grand total of seventy-nine thousand three hundred sixty-four people; and

Whereas, Joint Base Charleston's annual economic impact to the State totals four billion sixty-seven million dollars in salaries and compensation plus an additional eighteen million six hundred thousand dollars in new construction and seventy-one million four hundred thousand dollars in renovations to base facilities in 2010; and

Whereas, Joint Base Charleston's service members, civilian employees, and contractors are our nation's patriots and are good citizens acting as Boy and Girl Scout leaders, youth baseball coaches, and Sunday school teachers, just to name a few of their community activities while serving our State and country. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, commemorate the union of the Charleston Air Force Base and Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, renamed Joint Base Charleston, and commend Joint Base Charleston for its overall importance to the State and our national security, and commend the dedicated men and women there for serving the State of South Carolina and the United States of America.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the President of the United States and to the Secretary of Defense.