Mike Turner giveth to NCR, Mike Turner taketh away

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By Jessica Wehrman, Staff Writer Updated 5:57 PM Saturday, June 27, 2009

WASHINGTON — Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner happily requested $2.9 million in federal money for NCR. Then came the bombshell earlier this month: NCR was pulling out of Dayton and moving its world headquarters to Atlanta, Ga.

Turner, like other lawmakers from the state, got mad, sending out the obligatory press release expressing surprise and disappointment about the decision.

Then he got even.

Turner, R-Centerville, last week took the unusual step of rescinding the very earmark he’d requested in the House Defense Authorization bill, pulling the earmark out of the bill just as it was about to pass the House of Representatives.

The earmark, which would have allowed the House to spend $2.9 million, would have helped NCR evaluate new low-cost sensors and near field communication technologies that could be used across the Air Force supply chain management system. It was recommended by the Dayton Development Coalition and passed out of the House Armed Services Committee last week. When Turner, a member of that committee, realized it had passed, he took action.

“I’m not going to support NCR pulling jobs out of Dayton, Ohio and championing them getting more federal funds,” he said.

He said over the past five years, he and retired U.S. Rep. David Hobson, R-Springfield, worked together to get $5 million in earmarks for the redevelopment and cleanup of old NCR properties. No more.

He said the $2.9 million was aimed at encouraging an NCR-Wright-Patterson relationship.

“Obviously, if they want federal funds, they’re going to have to go to a congressman in Georgia now,” he said.

He said that the fact that the Dayton Development Coalition had recommended he request the funding is an indication of the support NCR took for granted.

“Our community has done an incredible job at the local, state and federal level of trying to get resources for NCR that they completely discounted,” he said. “And certainly, they’re going to see the effects of it now.”

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