WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the First Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the United States Secretary of Defense as follows:

WHEREAS,  at least 300 active duty personnel will remain in service within a 20mile radius of Naval Air Station Brunswick; and

WHEREAS,  United States Department of Defense policy states that commissaries and exchanges are an integral element of the pay and benefit package for active duty personnel; and

WHEREAS,  the Defense Commissary Agency states that commissaries provide a military family an average annual savings of $4,000; and

WHEREAS,  commissaries and exchanges improve the quality of life of military families and positively affect military retention and recruitment; and

WHEREAS,  based on Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System data, more than 11,000 eligible patrons will reside within 20 miles of the site of Naval Air Station Brunswick; and

WHEREAS,  we recognize the enormous sacrifices our active duty military members make, and military retirees have made, and it is extremely important to the citizens of Maine to maintain and improve the morale and welfare of these groups; and

WHEREAS,  there is no other commissary or exchange within 20 miles or a 30minute drive of Naval Air Station Brunswick; and

WHEREAS,  sales at the exchange are projected to increase once the Armed Forces Reserve Center opens in Brunswick in 2012; and

WHEREAS,  the local reuse committee is willing to rent space for the commissary at an affordable rate; and

WHEREAS,  an exchange and commissary complement the plan of the local reuse committee and have the strong support of the surrounding communities; now, therefore, be it