Political Quotes

“I rise to speak in support of the Space National Guard Establishment Act of 2021, which Senator Rubio and I introduced today. I thank Senator Rubio along with our 10 bipartisan cosponsors for joining me on this important bill. When the Space Force was established in 2019, Active-Duty space units were moved out of the Air Force and into the new Space Force, but National Guard space units were left behind in the Air National Guard under the Air Force. Active-Duty and Guard units performing space missions are supposed to work together seamlessly, but they cannot do so if we leave them in separate services. Today, we have 16 Air National Guard units with 1,000 members performing space missions in a different service than their Active-Duty counterparts. This misalignment creates a number of problems. It inhibits the efficient and consistent provision of funding, equipment, talent, education, and training to our space units. This disconnect makes mobilization more complicated and separates them with different service processes and cultures. This is not how to construct a cohesive force, and if Congress is going to create a Space Force, then Congress should complete the job. The current misalignment is unsustainable. If it is not repaired, then National Guard units performing the space mission will wither on the vine.…”