Funding border wall could take more than $500M from 6 NC military facilities
WASHINGTON — The military's funding is on the chopping block after a list was released Monday detailing how much could be taken to build the southern border wall.
There are numerous construction projects at six North Carolina military facilities that face being cut: Camp Lejeune, MCAS Cherry Point, MCAS New River, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Fort Bragg and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, which houses the 145th Airlift Wing.
All of those at-risk projects are worth a total of $500,395,000, according to ABC11.
On Feb. 15, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, giving him access to funds previously unavailable.
Building a border wall has been a longtime pillar of President Trump's speeches -- a signature promise first made in the early days of his 2016 campaign for the Oval Office. Sticking true to campaign promises, President Trump issued the first veto of his presidency on March 15-- overruling Congress' disapproval resolution to protect his emergency declaration.
Congress needs two-thirds majority to override President Trump's veto. Success is unlikely, though House Democrats have suggested they would try nonetheless.
To identify the potential sources of military funds, the Department of Defense used the following criteria to determine which projects were ineligible for defunding:
- No military construction projects that have already been awarded, and no military construction projects with 2019 fiscal year award dates will be impacted
- No military housing, barracks or dormitory projects will be impacted
- Projects already booked until Sept. 30, 2019 will not be affected
The running estimate for border wall construction tallies up to about $6.8 billion, according to the Military Times.
Breaking the cost down to the six military installations in North Carolina, these totals show how much project funding could be pulled:
- Camp Lejeune: $65,784,000 for water treatment plant; $58,700,000 for new health care facilities; $25,650,000 for communications infrastructure; $20,539,000 for motor transport maintenance; $10,800,000 for fitness training center
- Cherry Point: $115,000,000 for aircraft maintenance and flight tech improvements; $23,300,000 for airfield security improvements; $15,671,000 for F-35 maintenance
- New River: $32,580,000 for new health care equipment
- Seymour Johnson Air Force Base: $23,100,000 for air traffic control/base operations improvements; $20,000,000 for tanker delivery system; $6,400,000 for mission storage
- Ft. Bragg: $10,000,000 for a dining facility; $10,905,000 for combat medic training; $12,109,000 for maze and tower training; $20,257,000 for resistance training lab complex
- Charlotte Douglas Airport: $29,600,000 for C-17 corrosion control