The President of the Government considered that the decision taken by the U.S. House of Representatives to reorder a specific evaluation on the importance of Lajes Air Base, under the budget laws for the area of Defence in 2015, is a "strong political signal" of the U.S. congress.

"We cannot forget the specificities of the U.S. political system on these matters. Nevertheless, this is clearly a strong political signal. We hope it will have a positive impact, starting with the study to be conducted by the Department of Defence," said Vasco Cordeiro to reporters. The President of the Government stressed that the attention given to this mater by a group of Congressmen, some whom have strong ties to the Azores.

In the context of the legislation passed today at the U.S. House of Representatives, the members of Congress reiterated the need for a study on the effectiveness of Lajes Air Base in the actions to support the U.S. position abroad. They requested the new Secretary of Defence to justify the reason why Lajes Air Base will not be preferred location to station Special Forces or AFRICOM components.

In fact, the U.S. Administration is prevented from reducing military personnel at Lajes Air Base until these studies are completed and the funds granted under the 2015 Defence Budget cannot be used to close down some service infrastructures at this base.
For Vasco Cordeiro, the position taken by the House of Representatives confirms the acceptance by the majority of Congress members with regard to the reasons defending the importance of Lajes Air Base.

"Although this voting is an important moment, we still have to wait for further developments on this matter under the U.S. Administration," the President of the Government warned, recalling that the starting point of this process was a decision taken by the USA on the reduction of military forces on Terceira that was notified to the Portuguese Government.

"I welcome this step, but I am well aware that it will not solve the challenge that still lies ahead of us or that will halt the impact  of the departure of U.S. military families from the base, which is already being felt on the island's economy," stressed Vasco Cordeiro.