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Protect Homestead Air Reserve Base to Secure America’s Future
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
March 7, 2024
…To keep our country safe, we must protect the U.S. military’s ability to respond to threats in our hemisphere. This means protecting Homestead Air Reserve Base….
F-15 Eagles and F-16C Fighting Falcons operating from HARB work with Doral’s U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to defend our nation from air attacks and other threats. The base is also the headquarters of U.S. Special Operations Command South and houses numerous U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard assets….
To prevent disruptive commercial activity in the area…, I secured a four-year prohibition on civilian aviation at the base…. Senator Rick Scott and I, together with Representative Carlos Giménez, have introduced legislation that would make that prohibition permanent…. As the world grows more dangerous, the need to protect HARB from intrusive development remains strong….
We cannot discount the possibility that [the area around Florida and Cuba] will become a combat zone in a future global conflict…. Though it seems unlikely, our adversaries could wreak tremendous destruction by arming terrorists based in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela to attack shipping near Florida with [cheap] drones….
Most disturbing is Beijing’s investment in close to 40 regional ports, all of which could eventually serve as Chinese military bases. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are also expanding their presence in the region.
As President Dwight D. Eisenhower said in his farewell address, “Our arms must be mighty…so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.” The threats are different today, but they‘re no less pressing, and in the face of them, we can’t afford to undermine HARB’s operational security….