REFERENCE TITLE: Arizona aerospace day

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-third Legislature

First Regular Session

2017

 

 

HR 2003

 

Introduced by

Representatives Thorpe: Allen J, Alston, Bowers, Carter, Chávez, Clodfelter, Cobb, Coleman, Cook, Fernandez, Finchem, Friese, Grantham, John, Lawrence, Leach, Martinez, Navarrete, Nutt, Payne, Rios, Rivero, Saldate, Salman, Shooter, Shope, Stringer, Syms, Udall, Ugenti-Rita, Weninger

 

 

A RESOLUTION

 

proclaiming January 30, 2017 as Arizona Aerospace Day.

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Whereas, the Arizona aerospace industry is a powerful, reliable source of employment, innovation and export income; and

Whereas, the Arizona aerospace industry directly employs more than 56,500 people in Arizona, supports over 35,800 jobs in related fields, results in more than $840 million in annual state income tax revenues and accounts for 20% of this state's manufacturing gross domestic product; and

Whereas, Arizona is home to many exceptional sites of air and space activity, including the Luke Air Force Base, the Barry M. Goldwater Range Air Force Base, the United States Army Yuma Proving Ground, the Davis‑Monthan Air Force Base, Spaceport Tucson and Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport, the tenth busiest airport in the United States; and

Whereas, Arizona operates and provides training for the top military aircraft in the world, from Lockheed Martin's F-16 Fighting Falcon to the F-35 Lightning II; and

Whereas, Arizona will have more F-35s by 2020 than any other state or nation in the world; and

Whereas, as home of the premier institutions of Arizona State University, which is ranked number one in the country for innovation, the University of Arizona and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona is recognized as the leader in aerospace research, development and education; and

Whereas, Arizona's aerospace industry was ranked number one among all states in the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2016 Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness 2016 evaluation, which examined each state's aerospace industry costs, size, infrastructure, stability and workforce; and

Whereas, according to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's 2013 report "The Economic Impact of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the United States," the unmanned aircraft system industry in Arizona is expected to create 4,260 new jobs and $3.371 billion in economic impact in the first decade following unmanned aircraft system integration into the national airspace; and

Whereas, Arizona universities, in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, have led missions to Mars, proving with the Phoenix Mars Lander that frozen water existed on the Red Planet, and to asteroids, including the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission to the Bennu asteroid, to begin the search for molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earth's oceans; and

Whereas, the estimated 2023 launch of Arizona State University's Psyche Mission to the metal asteroid Psyche will mark the first time scientists will be able to see what is believed to be a planetary core; and

Whereas, Arizona aerospace industries assemble the legendary Boeing AH-64 Apache, Raytheon missile weapon systems used by the United States military and allied forces worldwide and Honeywell's IntuVue Weather Radar and provide products in nearly everything that flies, including Orbital ATK commercial launch vehicles and missile defense systems and Vector Space Systems' Vector-R launch vehicle, which is the world's only launch vehicle dedicated to serving the microsatellite market; and

Whereas, Aerospace Arizona, the Arizona Chapter of the Aerospace States Association, is sponsoring a day of events to highlight the contributions of the aerospace community to Arizona.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona:

That the Members of the House of Representatives proclaim January 30, 2017 as Arizona Aerospace Day in recognition of the tremendous contributions the aerospace industry has made to the history, economy, security and educational system of Arizona.