Keating Supports Provision to Aid Lajes Air Base

Statement

Today, the House of Representatives will consider an amendment supported by Rep. Bill Keating that was submitted to the 2014 Defense Appropriations Act that would stop any force reduction at Lajes Air Base in Portugal. Rep. Keating is the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats.

"An integral part of the current debate regarding funding for the Department of Defense is the need to save critical jobs that promote and enhance our national security,"said Rep. Keating. "By prohibiting a reduction in force structure at Lajes Field for this fiscal year, we are preserving jobs that are not only essential to the local economy but that provide a direct benefit for the U.S. Lajes remains a strategic post for assets crossing between North America and Europe, and its current workforce needs to be preserved. Portugal and the Azores are some of America's strongest partners and we should continue that partnership as fully as possible."

Lajes Air Force Base is the second largest employer on the island of Terceira in the Azores -- providing over 700 tenured Portuguese workers and nearly 100 short-term workers with employment.

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