DENVER – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet released the following statement after the announcement by the U.S. Department of the Air Force that Huntsville, Alabama, has been named the permanent headquarters of U.S. Space Command and reports that President Trump politicized the process.
“We are deeply disappointed the Trump Administration is trying to move Space Command from Colorado to Alabama. We do not believe this decision reflects the best choice, or even a rational choice, for our national security and ability to confront threats in space. We are concerned by rumors that the Trump White House influenced this decision for political reasons.
“In the spring of 2019, the Air Force named six finalists for the permanent home of Space Command––four of them in Colorado. For reasons that were never clear, in the spring of 2020, the Air Force announced a subsequent process that eventually resulted in six new finalists, this time including only one in Colorado. And now, just as President Trump is leaving office, Colorado was not selected despite reports that it was the Air Force’s top choice. We will work closely with the Colorado delegation to ensure the Biden Administration reviews this purported decision. We believe a process based on the merits will keep Space Command in Colorado. There is no role for politics when it comes to our national security.”
Following the selection of the six finalist communities in Colorado, New Mexico, Alabama, Texas, Florida, and Nebraska, the Air Force announced that they would conduct an in-person visit to each of the sites and a virtual visit with the community. During the Air Force’s visit to Colorado Springs in December, Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, and other community leaders presented the case for why Colorado Springs is the best and only home for U.S. Space Command. Peterson Air Force Base (AFB) is the current provisional headquarters of U.S. Space Command and will be until 2026. In December 2020, Hickenlooper and Bennet joined more than 600 state, federal, local, county and municipal officials, businesspeople, philanthropists, civic leaders, military officials, entrepreneurs ,and Coloradans from across the state in a letter urging Trump to keep the Command in the Centennial State.