Cramer's annual report upbeat to a record luncheon audience
Huntsville congressman discusses NASA, drug abuse, sex offenders
Friday, August 12, 2005
U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer's annual Washington Update luncheon at the Von Braun Center brought nothing but hopeful news to a record 800 business and community leaders in attendance.
From thousands of potential military jobs coming to Redstone Arsenal to the development of a new space vehicle in which Marshall Space Flight Center would play a crucial role, Cramer, D-Huntsville, spoke of great possibilities due in part to lawmakers' efforts in Washington, D.C.
Redstone, Cramer said, stands to gain 3,000 to 5,000 jobs if the Base Realignment and Closure Commission concurs with the Pentagon, which recommended moving the Army Materiel Command, Space and Missile Defense Command and major functions of the Missile Defense Agency to the arsenal.
Cramer said there are other jobs BRAC commissioners are mulling over that haven't been recommended, and he thinks Huntsville has a good chance at some of those, too.
BRAC's recommendations go to President Bush Sept. 8. He has until Sept. 23 to act on the recommendations, and Congress must vote on them within 45 days from the president's signing.
Cramer also discussed:
NASA - He believes that Administrator Mike Griffin will replace the space shuttle with another space vehicle by 2010 and that Marshall will do a lot of work on the new spacecraft.
Crystal meth - He's working on a bill that could give relief to law enforcement agencies battling the crystal methamphetamine problem. The congressman said during his 10-year stint as Madison County district attorney he saw the horrors that crack and cocaine addiction wrought, but those were nothing compared with what crystal meth has done. He mentioned a Marshall County child who was found alone in a house with two people who had died of meth overdoses.
Sex offenders - A bill he wrote with U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, D-Fla., was incorporated into the Children's Safety Act of 2005 that requires states to keep closer tabs on convicted sex offenders.
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