Sen. Alan J. Dixon, the Illinois Democrat who died earlier this month , might have an Air Force facility at Scott AFB, a site near “Al the Pal’s” home of Belleville, Ill.  

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois’ senior senator and chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, made sure the appropriations bill funding the Pentagon contained language providing the designation. Dixon, the chairman of the 1995 Base Closure and Realignment Commission, made transparency in the military’s decision-making process on the fate of its facilities one of his causes in his Senate career.  

“His work to make sure Scott Air Force Base was given a critical mission in our nation’s defense has resulted in Scott becoming one of our nation’s premier Air Force assets,” Durbin said in a statement.