Editor's note: This is a sidebar to a three-part series titled “Reyes the Rainmaker,” focusing on the power and influence of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes in national security, homeland security, border security, and intelligence operations, how those programs have been integrated into regional economic development efforts, and how Reyes has drawn increasing support from the military contracting sector.
The series:
-- Part 1:Building the Paso del Norte security system, from academics to economics
-- Part 2: Contributions and contracts
-- Part 3: Electronics and earmarks on the border
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Aerospace Missions Corporation of El Paso has been favored by U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes with a string of earmarks starting in 2005 and continuing through the 2010 appropriations bill that is before Congress. Aerospace Missions is, apparently, a one-man company, with director and founder Ricky Morgan being that one person.
Morgan has not returned phone calls. According Aerospace Mission’s website, the company has operations in St. Mary’s, Georgia. But the company’s number has been disconnected. According to the company’s website:
“Aerospace Missions Corporation has set a new standard of excellence as the first exclusive R&D company in El Paso, Texas. As the Sun City's new standard-bearer, ASMC not only provides scientific, engineering and technical assistance services to the military and NASA, but is developing revolutionary aerospace technologies that will transform the way NASA and the military fulfill their missions.”
The relationship between Reyes, Aerospace, and the U.S. taxpayers illustrates the way congressional earmarks for defense and intelligence skirt a more considered legislative process whereby an executive branch agency (in this case the Pentagon) with the approval of the president proposes a budget and Congress reviews before approving. With respect to private contracts, this non-earmark appropriations process generally results in funds for competitively bid projects. With earmarks such as that to Aerospace, the lawmaker can insert funding authorizations for pet projects that are not reviewed by the government agency and result in no-bid contracts.
A June 5, 2005 REDCO media release, which featured statements by Rep. Reyes, enthusiastically welcomed Aerospace to El Paso. According to REDCO, “The company is located in transitional facilities [7362 Remcon Circle] located on El Paso’s Westside, but plans to move into a permanent facility by the end of 2005 that will grow to 40,000 square feet of space by 2010 and will include more than 2,300 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratories.”
Aerospace CEO and founder Morgan said:
“Our growth is limited only by the number and quality of scientists and engineers we can attract to El Paso. With the El Paso cost of living, especially housing, far below the competing markets of Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington D.C.; and our salary structure equal to or better than our competitors, the last remaining impediment to attracting world-class aerospace researchers to El Paso -- the lack of jobs -- has been removed with the opening of Aerospace Missions Corporation’s commercial physical research laboratory.”
Reyes and the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) have enthused over the decision by Morgan and his AMC to set up shop in El Paso.
In an article published in June 2005 by the West Texas Courier, Reyes announced in that Aerospace Missions Corporation had picked El Paso as its “new research and development center, which will create 150 high-paying jobs and inject $35 million annually into our local economy.” Reyes said “this will be a huge boost to our community.”
As Reyes explained:
“Rick Morgan, the President and CEO of Aerospace Missions Corporation, and I have been working together for the past few years to make last week’s announcement a reality. As I serve on the House Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee, I have been involved with the development of UAVs and know the importance of the intelligence they provide.
“Rick proposed to miniaturize sensors for UAVs. Acknowledging that this forward-thinking change will protect our soldiers in the field, provide vital intelligence and protect our national security, I helped to secure $1 million in federal funding in last year’s defense spending bill for Aerospace Missions Corporation’s work and have included another $6 million in this year’s defense authorization bill.
“Aerospace Missions Corporation will develop sensors for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have played a vital role in the global war on terror and in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. UAVs are self-piloted aircraft that carry cameras, sensors or communications equipment that are used for reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and even combat missions.”
One problem with this scenario is that Reyes’ enthusiasm for UAVs and technological fixes for security issues are not shared by all national security and homeland security experts. A Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a May 2008 report on UAVs for homeland security concluded:
“Various problems encountered in the past may hinder UAV implementation on the border. There are concerns regarding the high accident rate of UAVs, which is currently 100 times higher than that of manned aircraft.
“According to the CBP [Customs and Border Protection] Inspector General, the costs of operating a UAV are more than double the costs of operating a manned aircraft. This is because UAVs require a significant amount of logistical support and specialized operator and maintenance training. Additionally, the use of UAVs has resulted in fewer alien apprehensions per flight hour than the use of manned aircraft.”
More than four years after Rep. Reyes and REDCO hailed the coming of Aerospace Missions to El Paso and after three $1-million earmarks (and another possibly on the way), there is little sign of Aerospace’s presence. Rather than opening a 40,000 sq. ft. development center as REDCO said, the company remains in its transitional office in an office building where a receptionist answers calls for dozens of companies.
Shortly after REDCO’s enthusiastic welcoming of Aerospace, a column by Sito Negron in the NewspaperTree.com asked REDCO how the company came to its attention.
"Often when we get a referral like that coming directly from a federal official such as a congressman there's an awful lot of credibility that comes with that," Cook said. According to Cook, Rep. Reyes helped the company gain its military contract. At the time, Cook described Aerospace as a “legitimate company by the way with a legitimate business plan” and that it had “a contract they were trying to finalize with the Department of the Army."
The congressman’s office did not respond to a question about the existence of Aerospace federal contract, and no record of any Aerospace contract with the Army could be found in a routine search.
Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense says, “Companies are in an arms race of lobbying and earmarks. They become addicted to the federal money and start orienting their business plan in that direction."
In large part, it has been Republicans that in recent years have voiced concerns about the proliferation of defense earmarks. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) has, in particular, criticized the kind of earmarks for high-tech defense spending favored by Rep. Reyes. Hagel says senators and representatives are ill-equipped to weigh the merits of specific technology. "Congress can't get into that," he said. "We're not qualified to do that. We have to rely on the experts in government to make that determination."
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Tom Barry directs the TransBorder Project of the Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org) at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. He blogs at borderlinesblog.
