Pinon Canyon Vote Has Colorado Watching Defense Nominee
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado lawmaker says he's worried that President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary might revive plans to expand a southeast Colorado Army training site.
Republican Sen. Larry Crowder of Alamosa wrote a letter Tuesday to Colorado's senators asking them to oppose Chuck Hagel's confirmation as defense secretary.
Crowder says he's alarmed that when Hagel was a Republican senator from Nebraska in 2007, he against a measure to bar expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. That bill was proposed by Colorado's senator at the time, Sen. Ken Salazar.
Like many farmers and ranchers in the area, Crowder opposes any expansion at Pinon Canyon.
The Army says it no longer wants to expand the site but Crowder warns that could change.
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