Menendez, Lautenberg, Pallone, Holt Statement on Productive Meeting with Army Secretary About Fort Monmouth

Statement

U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone (NJ-6) and Rush Holt (NJ-12) today issued the following joint statement, following their meeting with John McHugh, Secretary of the Army. The Senators and Representatives requested the meeting to discuss their concerns surrounding the pending closure of Fort Monmouth and the impact of that closure on the military and New Jersey.

"We had a productive meeting with Secretary McHugh. Our greatest concern is ensuring that the Army maintains the ability to continue to provide the intelligence and communications support essential to our troops -- including service members from New Jersey -- on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. As Secretary McHugh acknowledged, the Army still projects that only half of the existing workforce is likely to move to Maryland, and that the Army is open to executing a Memorandum of Understanding with the State and the New Jersey Technology Solutions Center as one way to ensure mission support continues. The Secretary expects to have an announcement about funding for the Center in the near future, possibly as early as next week. We look forward to continuing to work with the Secretary to ensure that we meet the needs of deployed troops, military retirees, and veterans living in New Jersey."