Bremer disappointed in Sen. Bennet’s dereliction of duty on Space Force move
Bipartisan amendment dropped from Senate version of the NDAA
 
 
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 9, 2021
 
President Trump announced in his final months in office a move of the U.S. Space Force headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-5) inserted an amendment into the annual defense spending bill, the NDAA, which would prevent or delay Space Command’s proposed move until the completion of investigations. This amendment had broad bipartisan support in the House, including members of the Alabama delegation, but was mysteriously stripped from the Senate version.
 
“I am astonished that Sen. Bennet did not fight to keep this amendment in the NDAA,” stated Bremer. “This common-sense amendment had bipartisan (and Alabaman) support in the House but our Colorado Senator did nothing to push for its inclusion. Sen. Bennet has once again chosen to be a partisan hack for Sen. Schumer and President Biden rather than advocate for Colorado. As your next U.S. Senator from Colorado, I pledge that I will not take the easy way out and my decisions will be based on what’s right for Colorado.”
EDITORIAL: Colorado senators neglect Space Command — again
The Gazette editorial board
 Dec 9, 2021
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have failed Colorado again and undermined national security by neglecting to fight for Space Command. We lack a senator with the gravitas of freshman Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville. The former football coach stands up for his state and gets the results one expects from more seasoned politicians, such as Bennet and Hickenlooper.
Former President Donald Trump admitted to single-handedly ordering the removal of Space Command’s headquarters from Colorado Springs and giving it to Huntsville, Ala. He did so because Alabama’s delegation planned to advocate overturning the election Trump had lost. He did so because Alabama elected Tuberville, a Republican, to replace Democrat Doug Jones.
By contrast, Colorado voters trounced Trump and former Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner — arguably the most productive senator, who fought along with U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., to keep Space Command put. Moving this major component of national defense was an obvious way for Trump to give Colorado the middle finger and reward Alabama. Trump bragged about this decision to an Alabama radio audience. That’s politics, and no one should be surprised.
Here’s what is surprising and genuinely disappointing: Bennet and Hickenlooper seem at peace with Trump’s decision to shaft Colorado. They appear to have little clout with President Joe Biden and have allowed Washington to undo victories Gardner made to improve our state’s economy and way of life.
The latest disgrace involves the National Defense Authorization Act. When it first passed the full House, the bill included an amendment by Lamborn to prevent or delay investments in Space Command’s proposed move. It would spare taxpayers the expense until the completion of investigations by the Pentagon’s inspector general and the Government Accountability Office into the motivation of Trump’s counterproductive order.
Tuberville sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which devised the Senate’s version of the defense funding bill. The Senate version, passed out of the House on Tuesday for lack of time to improve it in a conference committee, contains nothing like Lamborn’s amendment.
Bennet and Hickenlooper should have successfully persuaded the Senate Armed Services Committee to include a Lamborn-like amendment, which had broad bipartisan support in the House. Their party controls the Senate’s committee. We wonder if fellow Democrats care what Bennet and Hickenlooper think. The Gazette’s editorial board texted Hickenlooper the following question:
“Hi Senator. Rep. Lamborn added a provision to the NDAA to prevent spending on the Space Command move until the IG and GAO investigations are completed. It came out of the Senate without this provision. Did you try to keep this in the bill or add something similar? Was it a good idea?”
We left a similar question in a voicemail for Sen. Bennet. Neither senator responded as of press time.
With Gardner, all roads led to Colorado. He landed us the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management before Bennet and Hickenlooper stood by and let Washington reclaim it. Like Lamborn, Gardner took every occasion to lobby Trump on the merits of keeping Space Command in Colorado Springs. Gardner sponsored more successful legislation, mostly to the direct benefit of Colorado than the rest of the state’s nine-member delegation combined. By contrast, Bennelooper neglects Colorado and sycophantically promotes Biden’s fiscally irresponsible and inflationary policies.
Because of Colorado’s rote party-line voting, we have two senators who consider themselves so safe — merely by virtue of party affiliation — they don’t care about losses back home that should embarrass them.
 
The Gazette Editorial Board