The freshman United States congressman from Utah's First Congressional District told Davis County Commissioners and other top county employees that "my biggest concern is obviously Hill." Nevertheless, he said he is optimistic the base will survive the latest round of closures because of the importance of the work done at Hill on the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and other projects.
Bishop, who has been in office since January, 2002, addressed several issues during Tuesday's meeting in the County Commission chambers here.
He noted that HAFB's closing would be devastating for Davis County, to the point he's not sure how long it would take for the county to recover. "But I don't think they'll ever close Hill," he said. Instead, he said they could realign missions Hill currently has to other bases and move other jobs. He believes Hill's best chance is in the current effort to tie it in with the Utah Test and Training Range.
Bishop sees his job as working with the Defense Alliance to present the base in a positive light and to dispel rumors flying about the base's closure.
He told those at the meeting the BRAC process may be postponed two years, but that doesn't mean it's going away.
Bishop also commented on the war in Iraq, noting that many Americans believe the U.S. military should be out of Iraq because the war is over. But, like America's acquisition of the Philippines following the Spanish-American War, the clean-up and restoration of Iraq's government will take more time and money than the war itself. "It's not easy for those raised on Sesame Street, who expect all problems to be solved in 22 minutes, plus commercials, to understand that. Still, I think we'll be getting out in a short period of time," he said.
Bishop commented to a question about the fairness of Utah Reserve and National Guard members serving so much time in Iraq, saying that the Middle East has always been the responsibility of Utah units. Tongue-in-cheek, he said, "If we had attacked North Korea, we wouldn't be sending nearly as many soldiers."
In a sense, he said, the military won the war too quickly, before it had the opportunity to work out problems with unit rotation and getting resources into the hands of soldiers. The military, he believes, is finally getting a handle on that.
Commenting on the price of gasoline, Bishop said it's his understanding that figuring in the rate of inflation and cost-of-living index, gasoline prices were actually higher in 1981.
He said the United States has enough energy resources that we could abolish our dependence on foreign oil if we would develop those resources. The recent price hike by OPEC "illustrates why we need an energy policy act," he said.
In addition to rising gasoline prices, we can expect major price increases in heating bills, he said. Currently the U.S. is importing much of the product used for heating from Canada, and it's actually now cheaper to import it from Africa, liquefy it and ship it here, than it is to develop America's resources, he said.
As far as the prescription drug benefit for seniors which was recently passed by congress, Bishop said it hasn't fully kicked in yet.
He finds it interesting that some of the benefit's greatest proponents are conservatives, while liberals oppose it, "even though it's the biggest increase we've seen in some time as an entitlement program."
Bishop believes the program is a real opportunity for the future if we play it right. If we don't do it right in the future, it can be a real gamble."
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