Congressional Spending Bill Scolds San Diego Airport Authority

Congressional Spending Bill Scolds San Diego Airport Authority

ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:01 p.m. December 8, 2003

WASHINGTON – Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham used a spending bill to deliver a 
public scolding to San Diego's airport authority for the way it is choosing 
sites for a new airport.

Cunningham, R-Del Mar, inserted language in a $373 billion spending bill that 
criticizes the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority for selecting active 
military bases as potential sites to replace the overcrowded San Diego 
International Airport, also known as Lindbergh Field. The package to fund 
various government agencies was passed by the House Monday.

Cunningham and the four other congressmen representing San Diego County – 
including Democrats Susan Davis and Bob Filner – have repeatedly objected to 
active military bases being chosen.

The lawmakers are concerned, in part, that putting bases on the list of sites 
for a future airport could hurt their chances of protecting those bases in the 
military's next round of base closures, set for 2005.

Five of six sites the airport agency selected in October as potential 
replacements for Lindbergh Field were active military locations.

The paragraph Cunningham inserted in the spending bill reads in part, "The 
authority has selected sites for review without considering whether the 
potential sites are even available. Of particular concern, most of the selected 
sites are important active military installations which are unavailable for 
civilian use."

Cunningham's spokeswoman, Harmony Allen, said the paragraph was meant to alert 
the Federal Aviation Administration to the issue.

"The purpose of this language was not to send a message, but to notify the FAA 
of the (Air Transportation Action Program) process," Allen said in a statement. 
"The San Diego International Airport is a public airport that receives federal 
dollars through the FAA. As an appropriator, Congressman Cunningham is a 
steward of taxpayer dollars and takes that responsibility very seriously."

Cunningham is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and of 
its defense subcommittee.

The military sites the airport authority identified as possibilities were 
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, East Miramar, Camp Pendleton Marine Corps 
Base, North Island Naval Air Station, all in San Diego County, and March Air 
Reserve Base in Riverside County. The only nonmilitary site was the Imperial 
County desert. The authority also suggested expanding Lindbergh Field. A single 
site is expected to be presented to voters in 2006.

Diana Lucero, a spokeswoman for the airport authority, defended the choice of 
military bases as part of the agency's mandate under state law.

"We have been in communication with our congressional delegation and will 
continue to dialogue with them," Lucero said. "The authority very much 
recognizes and agrees that the military is very important to the San Diego 
region and the country and would never do anything to jeopardize national 
security."

Agency officials have said they will explore sharing the bases with the 
military, but have also indicated they are considering the possibility a base 
might become available during the 2005 base closure round.

A spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, chairman of the House Armed 
Services Committee, said Hunter considered the area's bases vital to local and 
national security.

"When the (Base Realignment and Closure) process starts, one of the things 
they're going to look for is a united front between local, state and federal 
officials," added the spokesman, Michael Harrison. "So if you've got a local 
board saying we want to close Pendleton ... so we can build an airport, that 
doesn't have a united front."

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