WASHINGTON,
D.C.–Senator Ashley
Moody and her colleagues from Florida sent a letter to President Trump thanking him for his incredible work to
keep our nation safe, make our military the most lethal fighting force in the
world and return peace through strength. The letter asked the administration to
ensure that the F-35A goes to Homestead Air Reserve Base and that F-35A
production quantities remain undeterred. This will advance President Trump’s
mission and support Homestead’s vital role in national security, from
supporting U.S. Southern Command and housing Special Operations Command South
to interdicting narcotics and human trafficking through U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
Senator Rick
Scott and Congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart, Gus Bilirakis, Neal Dunn, Carlos
Giménez, Mike Haridopolos, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Jimmy Patronis, John
Rutherford, and Daniel Webster are co-signers of the letter.
Read the
full letter HERE or below.
Dear
President Trump:
We would
first like to thank you for your efforts to keep our nation safe, make our
military the most lethal military force in the world and return peace through
strength around the world. As Commander in Chief, you understand the critical
role Florida plays in delivering on that mission and protecting our national
security. From deterring and preventing the approximately $2.7 trillion impact
to American lives through fentanyl counternarcotics efforts to supporting
Southern border operations and homeland defense alert missions along our
coastlines, Homestead Air Force Reserve Base (HARB) is critical for our
national security. Florida’s strategic location makes it uniquely postured to
counter Chinese, Russian, Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs), and transnational
criminal organizations (TCOs) and their influence in the southern hemisphere.
These regional threats are the largest contributor to the state of national
emergency within the United States over illegal aliens, infiltration of Tren de
Aragua and MS-13 gangs, and illicit opioids.
Under your
leadership as both our 45th and 47th president, Florida continues to fight the
cartels and drug traffickers, leading to South Florida being named the High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area of the Year. We dismantled or disrupted 54 drug
trafficking organizations in 2023 and seized an estimate value of $748 million
in illicit drugs, including 23 metric tons of cocaine, 248 kilograms of
methamphetamine, and 224 kilograms of fentanyl.
Through U.S.
Southern Command, appropriately headquartered in Florida, we are tracking and
thwarting Chinese efforts to expand their Belt and Road Initiative in Latin
American Countries to monopolize natural resources, such as 20% of the world’s
oil reserves, 25% of the strategic metals, and 31% of the fishing areas. We are
working to claw back the $358 billion amassed by 35 TCOs in the region in 2023
through interdiction and counter trafficking efforts to help stabilize South
America, preventing their problems from reaching our shores. The Russian
Surface Action Group, led by the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and cruise missile
submarine Kazan docked in Havana, Cuba, passed within 30 miles of the Florida
Keys last June. Florida is uniquely postured to support the border alert
mission to deter these acts of aggression.
Within
Florida, HARB serves a foundational role in supporting the most critical
national defense missions. HARB generated $364 million for the local economy in
2023 alone. It is the home to the 2,500-member 482nd Fighter Wing and its
reserve associate, the 367th Fighter Squadron, responsible for F-16 alerts
across the coastline in support of Operation Noble Eagle. It houses the Customs
and Border Protection Air and Marine Branch, operating Blackhawks and
turbo-prop airliners like the DHC-8 to interdict smugglers and prevent illegal
aliens from crossing into the United States. Special Operations Command South
Headquarters is also resident at HARB, executing special operations as assigned
to U.S. Southern Command, spanning 31 countries and 10 overseas territories
across Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Florida’s
Gulf of America, Atlantic Ocean access, and its proximity to Central and South
America is what drove the 125th Fighter Wing Air National Guard (ANG) unit
selection for the F-35A Lightning II. Starting with an initial batch of
aircraft to Jacksonville ANG in March of this year and expanding to the 125th
Fighter Wing Detachment 1 at HARB in 2027. The Air Force Reserve also planned
this F-35A modernization to replace the aging F-16C fleet within the 482nd
Fighter Wing. This would create a common fighter platform between the Reserves
and National Guard at HARB, reducing costs for base operations through shared
maintenance efforts. Together, these units would provide a considerable
increase in readiness for the North American Aerospace Defense Command Alert
mission across both the Southern and Eastern U.S. border as well as downrange
multi-role operations through short-notice worldwide deployments.
Together, we
ask your administration to ensure that the F-35A goes to Homestead Air Reserve
Base and the F-35A production quantities remain undeterred. There is no real
trade when comparing other airframes and locales to a multi-role fighter
aircraft capable of countering Russian, Chinese, VEOs, and TCOs operations
across the entirety of the Southern and Eastern U.S. border and throughout the
Southern Hemisphere. HARB is a vital asset for our national security and power
projection, and critical for your Peace through Strength agenda. Thank you
again for your leadership and we hope you will consider, within all applicable
rules and regulations, our input on the matter.
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