Kathy Hochul: “As we begin voting on the National Defense Authorization Act later today, I want to remind people that, earlier this…”

“As we begin voting on the National Defense Authorization Act later today, I want to remind people that, earlier this year, the Air Force proposed cutting 5,100 Air National Guard positions from our military. Part of this plan eliminates three C 130s and 800 jobs from the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station in my own district. Transparency in government is important to all of us. Yet in this decision, no information was provided to us as to how these decisions were made to cut that many across the country. It's clear we need to reduce our spending, but we need to do it in a transparent and open way. Last week, I was proud to join Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services Committee in offering an amendment to restore these positions. When our citizens need help, whether it's fighting terrorism in Afghanistan or being rescued from floods in upstate New York, I say: Who you gonna call? I want to make sure that the Air National Guard is prepared to protect us; and therefore, today, we need to protect them. ____________________”