Senate Joint Resolution
No. 24
CHAPTER 96
Relative to the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
August 24, 2012.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 24, Harman.
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.
This measure would urge the California delegates of the Congress of the United States to protect the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach during any upcoming base realignment and closure processes.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, United States Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, recently released the 2013 fiscal year defense budget proposal which includes a request for new base closures; and
WHEREAS, The Naval Weapons Station located at Seal Beach in the County of Orange might be under consideration for closure in the 2013 or 2015 closure periods; and
WHEREAS, The mission of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is to provide shore-based infrastructure support to the Navy’s ordnance mission and other fleet and fleet support activities; and
WHEREAS, The Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is the United States Navy’s primary West Coast ordnance storage, loading, and maintenance installation in which the Navy’s Pacific Fleet is serviced and armed; and
WHEREAS, The next closest weapons station with a port facility is Naval Magazine Indian Island in the County of Jefferson in Washington State, approximately 1,000 miles away; and
WHEREAS, The Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach provides 600 civilians with work and retains 200 servicemen and servicewomen on base at all times; and
WHEREAS, The impact of those 800 men and women on the local, regional, and state economies is immeasurable; and
WHEREAS, The Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach includes the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, a 920-acre salt marsh; and
WHEREAS, The Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge provides essential habitats for three endangered species, including the light-footed clapper rail, the California least tern, and the Belding’s Savanna sparrow. The refuge becomes an ever more vital resource to dwindling populations of native plants and animals in light of urban sprawl and population growth which results in the loss and degradation of wildlife habitats; and
WHEREAS, Another base closure in California could have a devastating impact on the nation’s security; and
WHEREAS, The impact of the closure of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach 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, the housing market, and the local, regional, and state economies; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the California delegates of the Congress of the United States to protect the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach during any upcoming base realignment and closure processes; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Secretary of Defense of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to the minority leader of each house, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.