Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) today released the following statement on President Obama’s arrival into Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base tomorrow:

“When Air Force One lands at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base tomorrow, the President will be greeted by 200 Ohio Air National Guardsmen whose mission is in jeopardy due to the President's arbitrary budget cuts," Portman said.  “When the President got himself into a similar sticky situation in Mansfield a few weeks ago, he quickly caved to political pressure and tried to change his tune, making a campaign promise that he would find a new mission for the 179th, whose award-winning service ends in his budget proposal without any new mission.  I hope in the past couple weeks he has taken the time to study his proposal to cut experienced Air National Guard units and realized that is not the most cost-effective solution.  If he did, let's hope he'll tell us about a new secret plan to restore his cuts at Rickenbacker, too.”