WHEREAS, United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently released the 2013 fiscal year defense budget proposal which includes a request for two new base closure periods, one in 2013 and one in 2015; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Defense lists 30 major military installations in the State of California; and

WHEREAS, As of September 30, 2009, the Department of Defense listed 117,806 military personnel and 61,365 civilian personnel employed in military bases located in California; and

WHEREAS, Nearly fifty-seven billion dollars ($57,000,000,000) of federal defense funding is spent in California; and

WHEREAS, California has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation; and

WHEREAS, Another base closure in California could have a devastating impact on the state and local economies; and

WHEREAS, The impact of a base closure goes beyond the employment of the base personnel, impacting small local businesses, schools, sales and property tax bases of the local community, the environment, the hospitality industry, and the housing market; and

WHEREAS, Military installations in California are important in ensuring our military personnel are well trained, ensuring our national security, and ensuring our military resources are well positioned to provide assistance; and

WHEREAS, The Sea Range at Point Mugu is the Defense Department’s largest and most extensively instrumented over-water range that offers realistic, open-ocean, and littoral operating environments. The range supports the testing and evaluation of a variety of systems for the military, Homeland Defense, NASA, foreign ally, and private sector programs; and

WHEREAS, California is home to the Naval Special Warfare Command, which provides leadership, resources, and oversight to all Navy SEALs; and

WHEREAS, California is home to the Naval Special Warfare Center, which runs the SEAL training curriculum; and

WHEREAS, Edwards Air Force Base is home to the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, which is where the Air Force’s top pilots, navigators, and engineers learn how to conduct flight tests and generate the data needed to carry out test missions; and

WHEREAS, Travis Air Force Base handles more cargo and passengers than any other military air terminal in the United States and is the west coast terminal for aeromedical evacuation aircraft returning sick or injured patients from the Pacific area; and

WHEREAS, The Eleventh Coast Guard District includes the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, with the District and the Pacific area headquarters located on Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California. The Eleventh Coast Guard District carries out search and rescue, Homeland Security, law enforcement, marine safety, and aids to navigation missions over 3.3 million square miles of water. It also plays a dynamic role in protecting the District’s major ports, including six tier one ports in San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Francisco, Oakland, and Richmond; and

WHEREAS, Camp Pendleton is one of the Defense Department’s busiest installations offering a broad spectrum of training facilities for active and reserve Marine, Army, and Navy units, as well as nation, state, and local agencies. Several of the specialized schools and training are located at Camp Pendleton, including the Assault Amphibian School Battalion, School of Infantry-West, Field Medical Service School, and Marine Corps University; and

WHEREAS, Governor Brown has been encouraged to form a task force similar to the California Council on Base Support and Retention and the California Military Base Reuse Task Force, authorized by previous California Governors, to ensure a collaborative effort at federal, state, and local levels in protecting California’s military installations; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That California military bases are a vital part of our national security, particularly with California’s proximity to the unrest in Asia; and be it further