HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (MI-06), Bill Huizenga (MI-02), Tim Walberg (MI-07), Paul Mitchell (MI-10), and Jack Bergman (MI-01) issued a joint statement after the Department of Defense selected Fort Drum rather than Fort Custer in Battle Creek for a missile defense interceptor site.
Getting the site at Battle Creek could have brought $3.2 billion in economic benefits and as many as 1,800 jobs to Southwest Michigan, they said. .
“We always thought, and were led to believe that on the merits, the Fort Custer site would be the best for the taxpayer and the defense of the country to build a new missile defense site,” the statement read, in part. “In fact, in the letter the Pentagon provided to the Committee on Armed Services, it makes clear that Fort Custer provided clear strategic advantages. It also states that the decision could be re-evaluated, and we would encourage them to do so.”
The statement went on to suggest that Amash’s “consistent opposition to all defense spending bills over the years was too much for the Pentagon to accept. It did not help, and now they selected New York for the new missile defense site.”
