Bill Text: TX SCR41 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub

Texas Senate Concurrent Resolution 41 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Urging Congress to direct the Department of Defense to relocate the United States Africa Command to Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Signed by the Governor [SCR41 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SCR41-Comm_Sub.html



	By: Taylor of Galveston	S.C.R. No. 41
	(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2017; March 22, 2017, read
	first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs & Border
	Security; April 3, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
	Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 3, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote


	SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

	WHEREAS, The Pentagon could realize significant savings by
	relocating the United States Africa Command from Germany to
	Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston; and
	WHEREAS, When AFRICOM was created in 2007, the Department of
	Defense chose a temporary location in Stuttgart; it intended to
	select a permanent headquarters in Africa, but set this plan aside
	due to cost projections, security, and the sensitivities of African
	nations; and
	WHEREAS, The Department of Defense conducted a study in 2012
	that found maintaining AFRICOM headquarters stateside would cost
	$60 million to $70 million less per year, and now those savings
	would be even greater due to significant increases in Overseas Cost
	of Living Allowances rates; although relocation would involve
	expense, this expense could be recouped within two to six years;
	moreover, the relocation would repatriate about 1,400 direct jobs
	and create as many as 4,300 additional jobs for United States
	residents, and it would have an annual impact on the local economy
	ranging from $400 million to $500 million; and
	WHEREAS, Should the defense department decide to relocate
	AFRICOM, Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston would be an
	ideal home for the headquarters; the base features strong joint
	service military value of active duty, reserve, and guard units
	from all five United States armed services, some of which presently
	conduct training and operational missions for AFRICOM; it is also
	equipped to handle large military aircraft, and the city boasts one
	of the nation's most vibrant ports, which handles 40 percent of all
	United States trade with Africa; moreover, the community is
	exceptionally supportive of the military, and the Greater Houston
	area has strong cultural, educational, medical, and diplomatic ties
	with Africa; and
	WHEREAS, The Government Accountability Office has concluded
	that the relocation of AFRICOM to the United States would generate
	tremendous cost savings and economic benefits, and Ellington Field
	Joint Reserve Base offers advantages that would enhance the
	effectiveness of the headquarters; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to direct the
	Department of Defense to relocate the United States Africa Command
	to Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
	the secretary of the Department of Defense, to the president of the
	Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of the United
	States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to
	Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the
	Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United
	States of America.

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