Tribune Chronicle:
WARREN — The head of the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber said the president’s decision to sign a defense authorization bill of more than $700 billion in Fort Drum, N.Y. — one of three sites being considered for an East Coast missile defense site along with Camp Ravenna — is not an endorsement of that military installation for the site, which may or may not be pursued pending the outcome of a Missile Defense Review.
“That was just to support the congresswoman there in her re-election bid. This administration has an affinity for Northeast Ohio, for whatever reason. And we have a lot of persistence, a lot of resources and the workforce necessary to make this defense site work,” said James Dignan, president and CEO of the chamber.
The Missile Defense Review began early last year, ordered by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and was slated to be completed before the end of 2017 — and then by the end of February, and then by the end of May, but still has not been released. The last review was conducted in 2010. In June, during a delegation of local economic development and government affairs officials to Washington, D.C., Dignan said he was told it wouldn’t be long until the review was released and a decision made.
