LAKEHURST, N.J. — No funds for New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst are imperiled by the ongoing war over funding for President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexican Border Wall project. That’s the message Rep. Chris Smith (R-4), New Jersey’s last remaining Republican congressman, conveyed to the state on Tuesday morning.
Smith says DoD officials assured him this week that anticipated Joint Base projects — including tens of millions of cumulative dollars for an aircraft taxiway, support facility, aircraft hangar, and cargo hydrant system — are proceeding as planned and budgeted.
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“For the Joint Base, all the appropriated funding is scheduled to be contracted within that parameter,” Smith said. “Any claim that projects at the Joint Base could be ‘cut’ entirely to make room for border wall funding is inaccurate. Our projects designated for FY 2019 are on track.”
Misinformation abounds.
Smith pointed out that a Pentagon fact sheet explicitly disclosed that “No military construction projects that already have been awarded, and no military construction projects with FY 2019 award dates will be impacted” by the much-discussed February 15th national emergency declaration.
The long-time Congressman’s announcement comes as media reports claimed that numerous U.S. military base projects could see drastic cutbacks to their projects in order to make room for wall money.
South Jersey’s Joint Base is one of the region’s largest employers of Garden State residents, providing gainful employment for thousands of active duty and support personnel as well as many more individuals indirectly in the surrounding area.
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