News Room

EL PASO TO HOST SENATE AND HOUSE JOINT COMMITTEE HEARING ON FORT BLISS BASE REALIGNMENT AND CLOSURE (BRAC) IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES
May 9, 2008

"BRAC will impact education, public health, workforce, infrastructure and mental health agencies. To meet the challenge, we must prepare now."

Written by Senator Eliot Shapleigh, www.shapleigh.org

Capitol

EL PASO –  On Tuesday, May 13, El Paso Community College—Transmountain Campus will host a Senate and House joint committee hearing on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).  At the hearing, testimony will be taken from state and local community leaders about our region's response to the amazing growth at Fort Bliss.  

"BRAC will impact education, public health, workforce, infrastructure and mental health agencies.  To meet the challenge, we must prepare now," said Senator Eliot Shapleigh (SD29-El Paso), Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on BRAC.       

Participating in the hearing will be members of the Senate Subcommittee on BRAC and Senate Veteran Affairs & Military Installations Committee, as well as members of the House Committee on Defense Affairs and State-Federal Regulations.  Senator Shapleigh organized the historic joint committee hearing of the committees in El Paso.  The hearing will present the El Paso community with a unique opportunity to speak with both House and Senate leaders about BRAC's local impact and how the state can provide assistance.

The 2005 round of BRAC and the Grow the Army initiative are bringing to Fort Bliss and El Paso an historic amount of change and growth.  As a result of these changes, Fort Bliss will grow by over 28,000 soldiers and will eventually become an installation over four times its previous size.  Current estimates place the total net population gain by 2013 at over 65,000 soldiers and dependents.

The hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. in the Forum Theater at the El Paso Community College—Transmountain Campus at 9570 Gateway Blvd. North.  

What: Joint Senate-House Committee Hearing on BRAC

When: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.

Where: El Paso Community College – Transmountain Campus Forum Theater, 9570 Gateway Blvd. North

(Click on the icon below for a chart which provides estimates of growth through 2012.) 

- END -

Icon_document
Download this document for more information.

View Printer-Friendly Format

Related Stories

SHAPLEIGH: WAGING WAR ON HISPANICS IN TEXAS
March 1, 2011

By now, the Rick Perry, Radical Republican agenda is clear. During the 82nd Session of the Texas Legislature, TEA party Republicans mean to wage war on Hispanics.

In Perry’s party, which just took 22 seats away from Democrats to create a supermajority in the Texas House, the agenda is now crystal clear—cut taxes for the billionaires that funded Perry’s last election, cut budgets for key programs that invest in Hispanic education and health, cut regulations to corporations like the predatory lenders whose PACs pay for House wins and do anything possible to keep Hispanics away from the ballot box.

SENATOR ELIOT SHAPLEIGH REFLECTS ON THE WISCONSIN SHOWDOWN
February 23, 2011

Retired state Senator Eliot Shapleigh from El Paso sent the following letter to the Milwaukee Sentinel editor. Shapleigh was one of 11 Senate Democrats who left the state for Albuquerque, N.M. in the summer of 2003 to deny a quorum needed for the Senate to approve a controversial redistricting bill. After holding out for 48 days, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, threw in the towel – and the Texas Legislature approved another congressional redistricting map.

JOBS, SECURITY AND MOBILITY—BEYOND MERIDA IN THE PASO DEL NORTE
October 8, 2010

"On March 23, 2010 in Mexico City, the U.S. and Mexico launched the foundation of a 21st century bilateral partnership called "The New Border Vision." After months of consultation with the Calderon administration and joined by Secretaries Gates and Napolitano, Secretary of State Clinton announced a new policy named "Beyond Merida." The new federal accord has four key policy pillars: disrupt capacity of organized crime to operate; institutionalize capacity to sustain rule of law; create a 21st century border structure; and build strong and resilient communities. Here in the "Pass of the North," Beyond Merida must mean safety, jobs and mobility."

UTEP gets $5 million for Hunt institute
September 2, 2010

This city's future was entrusted to the University of Texas at El Paso on Tuesday by businessman Woody Hunt and his wife, who gave the school a $5 million gift to change the economic direction of the region.

SENATOR SHAPLEIGH CALLS ON RICK PERRY TO FOCUS ON TEXAS, NOT OBAMA
August 9, 2010

"Rick, there you go again. Giving a letter to President Obama at the Austin airport is just another gimmick to move the focus off Perry’s failed record at DPS. Quit blaming Obama for Border Security—El Paso is safer than ever. Get over to DPS and fix it now. That’s one responsible thing you can do on your watch.”