U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer came to El Segundo on Friday to pledge her support for Los Angeles Air Force Base retention, calling a closure or relocation "sheer lunacy."

Flanked by former El Segundo mayor and Assemblyman-elect Mike Gordon and current El Segundo Mayor Kelly McDowell, Boxer discussed the importance of the base's space and missile systems center and why she believed it must stay in El Segundo.

"Lunacy happens in government, so we have to be prepared for anything," she said.

The next round of the federal government's Base Realignment and Closure process -- known as BRAC -- is scheduled to take place in 2005. A Pentagon report concluded the military's base structure is bloated by "excess capacity" of 23 percent.

Local officials have been working hard to defend the base, seen as key to the regional economy.

The just re-elected Democrat noted that the base yields $60 billion a year in contracts and creates 50,000 jobs worth $8 billion in Los Angeles County alone. The work done at the base directly relates to the country's national defense, as it provides information and technology to U.S. troops worldwide, she said.

With Albuquerque, N.M., expressing interest in obtaining the base and Colorado Springs, Colo., recently spending $200,000 for a study to convey the area as an ideal alternative location to El Segundo, Boxer emphasized her and Sen. Dianne Feinstein's commitment to keep the base in California.

"We are going to make sure (the base) stays where it belongs," she said.

Citing beneficial relationships between the base and local nonprofit, military and educational facilities, Boxer said it would be difficult to recreate those bonds in a new city and cast doubt on whether employees would be willing to relocate.

Boxer said she couldn't estimate the likelihood of base closure or relocation, but promised that the issue would be addressed seriously.

"We've got the intellectual property, the history, the people and the facilities are brand new," she said. "You'd think we'd be safe, but we're not going to rest on our laurels."

McDowell said Boxer's support was a welcome resource in an ongoing fight to retain the base.

John Parsons, co-chairman of Los Angeles Air Force Base Regional Alliance and a Redondo Beach city councilman, said Boxer's support came at just the right time, in the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent establishment of a panel to advise state leaders and local communities on the BRAC process.

"We're gaining a lot of momentum," he said.