Gary Peters US Senate issued the following announcement.
Senator Gary Peters (MI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today spoke with U.S. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett on bringing the F-35 mission to Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township.
The conversation follows numerous discussions during the basing process that Peters has had with the Air Force on the F-35, including a meeting with the Secretary in Peters’ office earlier this month.
Following today’s conversation – which was additionally joined by Air Force Assistant Secretary John Henderson – Peters released the following statement:
“This morning I spoke with Air Force Secretary Barrett and Assistant Secretary Henderson on progress towards bringing the F-35 mission to Selfridge.
I again stressed that the base is ideal to host the F-35 mission.
“We discussed the current status of the F-35 basing process, including that Selfridge is currently undergoing an environmental review along with the preferred bases as a possible host.
I will continue working with the Secretary on this issue and pressing the Air Force and President Trump to follow through on bringing the F-35 to Selfridge.”
Last November, Peters led a bipartisan letter to Secretary Barrett urging her to select Selfridge as one of the locations to host the next F-35A operational base.
The letter came as local opposition to the mission grew in Madison, Wisconsin – one of the Air Force’s two designated “preferred” locations.
Selfridge was designated as a reasonable alternative and is undergoing the same environmental impact review as the preferred alternatives.
Senator Peters previously drilled at Selfridge during his service in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Original source can be found here.
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