Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        RESOLUTION 2-S.F.No. 371 
 A resolution memorializing the President and Congress 
to retain the Grand Forks Air Force Base, Grand Forks, 
North Dakota. 
    WHEREAS, the Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, is 
adjacent to our state and generates an annual economic gain of 
approximately $225,000,000; and 
    WHEREAS, the closure of the Grand Forks Air Force Base 
would greatly increase unemployment in the area; and 
    WHEREAS, the East Grand Forks and Grand Forks communities 
and surrounding region, which encompasses both northeastern 
North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, provide many resources 
and services which are essential to the mission of the Grand 
Forks Air Force Base; and 
    WHEREAS, the people of the Grand Forks Air Force Base and 
the civilian population of northwestern Minnesota and the 
surrounding region have established personal relationships that 
enhance the quality of life for everyone; and 
    WHEREAS, the Grand Forks Air Force Base is home to our 
nation's most modern bomber, the B-1B, and the most modern 
version of the minuteman missile, the Minuteman III; and 
    WHEREAS, the departure of the KC 135 R tankers from the 
Grand Forks Air Force Base has created available ramp space 
which could be used to house additional B-1B's; and 
    WHEREAS, during the years 1986 to 1987, $17,000,000 were 
invested at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in the building of 
state-of-the-art maintenance facilities for the B-1B's; and 
    WHEREAS, the physical facilities of the Grand Forks Air 
Force Base are modern, in good repair and wholly adequate and 
appropriate for carrying out the mission of the Grand Forks Air 
Force Base; and 
    WHEREAS, the Grand Forks Air Force Base is located in a 
rural setting and thereby enjoys uncrowded airspace which 
promises to remain uncrowded for the foreseeable future; and 
    WHEREAS, because the physical boundaries of the Grand Forks 
Air Force Base are not encroached upon by urban development, the 
Grand Forks Air Force Base enjoys the advantage of expandable 
boundaries; and 
    WHEREAS, the rapidity with which the world has changed, and 
indeed has become less stable as a result of the breakup of the 
Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany, would suggest 
that new threats could arise with equal rapidity; and 
    WHEREAS, the location of the Grand Forks Air Force Base 
renders it strategically essential to the defense of the United 
States; and 
    WHEREAS, in accordance with the provisions of the Start II 
Treaty, the continued presence of the Grand Forks Air Force Base 
is essential in the event of the approval and development of the 
ABM System; NOW, THEREFORE, 
    BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
that it supports the continued presence of the Grand Forks Air 
Force Base and urges the President and the Congress of the 
United States to maintain funding for the base. 
    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it urges the Governor of the 
State of Minnesota to initiate correspondence with all 
appropriate federal government agencies to encourage not only 
the retention of the Grand Forks Air Force Base in at least its 
current mission and its current strength, but also the expansion 
of the base by additional B-1B's, additional types of aircraft 
or by the establishment of a composite wing. 
    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
State of Minnesota is directed to prepare certified copies of 
this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
States, the United States Secretary of Defense, the chairman of 
the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the chairman of the 
House Committee on Armed Services, and Minnesota's Senators and 
Representatives in Congress. 
    Presented to the governor April 16, 1993 
    Signed by the governor April 19, 1993, 2:40 p.m.