凍結 天然氣 火車

Source

Gov. Jan Brewer protests Defense Deptartment cuts

She joins 48 other governors in signing letter to secretary

by Erin Kelly - Feb. 27, 2012 09:44 PM

Republic Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Gov. Jan Brewer joined 48 other governors Monday in protesting proposed cuts to the Air National Guard.

The Republican governor joined colleagues from both parties in signing a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta strongly opposing the plan.

The letter calls on the Defense Department to reconsider the Air National Guard cuts and work with the governors to come up with an alternative proposal.

"They want to balance the federal and defense budgets on our local economies," Brewer said in an interview at the end of the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association.

The Air Force detailed plans this month to cut the guard by about 5,100 people as part of an effort to reduce the federal deficit and restructure the military now that the Iraq War has ended and the war in Afghanistan is slated to wind down by the end of 2014.

There are more than 100,000 men and women in the Air National Guard nationwide, including about 2,600 in Arizona.

The guard has more than 140 units throughout the United States and in U.S. territories.

It is not yet clear exactly what the impact would be on Arizona's four units, guard officials said.

"We are concerned about our protection, so we are always concerned when defense is cut," Brewer said.

Brewer said the impact of the Pentagon's proposed defense cuts was one of the most important things the governors discussed as they gathered to talk about job creation, energy, health care and other major issues.

On Monday morning, Brewer and the other governors attended meetings at the White House, where President Barack Obama spoke to them about the importance of education.

"I tend to agree with him on that," said Brewer, who is well-known for disagreeing with the president on immigration policy and other issues. "We all know that education is the bottom line for our economy. We've got to have an educated workforce to get industry to come to our state."

Monday was the first time that Brewer has seen Obama since their now-infamous exchange on the tarmac at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on Jan. 25.

Brewer went to the airport to greet the Democratic president, but their meeting turned into a verbal confrontation over the governor's book. The president objected to her description of him as "condescending" in a meeting with Brewer in which they discussed the state's controversial immigration law. Brewer was photographed shaking her finger at the president as she responded.

"I had no intention of disrespecting the president of the United States," Brewer said. "I went there (to the airport) to welcome him."

Brewer said she fielded a lot of questions about the incident at the governors' meeting and was feeling a bit nervous as she went to the White House on Monday morning.

"That whole incident somewhat unnerves you," she said.

Brewer did not have a chance to talk to the president one-on-one Monday since she was part of a large group of governors at the meeting.

She did not attend a Sunday night White House dinner for the governors, saying she had previous commitments. Her staff declined to say whom she met with.

The governor said she thought it was important to attend Monday's meeting since it was a policy meeting rather than a social event.

The meeting went fine, Brewer said, but added that, "I'm probably not on the top of their favorite list."

The governor announced her endorsement of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday, and she said Monday that she disagrees with Republicans who say he is not conservative enough.

"I think that he is conservative," she said. "With his political background and his business background, I think he would serve us the best. ... I'm going to work very hard for him. Hopefully, we will see a change in the administration come November."