http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-19-senators-brac_x.htm


USA Today
Posted 5/19/2005 5:54 PM


Senators attempt to scuttle military base closings

By Larry Bivins,
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — Accusing the Pentagon of acting prematurely, a group of lawmakers have launched a legislative effort to scuttle recommendations for closing 33 major military bases and streamlining 29 others at least until U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq.

Led by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., in the Senate and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., in the House, the lawmakers accuse the Defense Department of exercising bad judgment and poor timing in recommending base closures and realignments at a time the country is at war in Iraq. South Dakota stands to lose Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, one of 33 major base closings proposed last week by the Pentagon.

But the sponsors acknowledged they face an uphill battle. The lawmakers also contend that it would be unwise to proceed with base closings before several reports relating to homeland security and military readiness have been completed and evaluated. "I have to say that from the standpoint of decision of this consequence ... to be in sort of an indiscriminate way closing all these bases seems to be very poorly timed," Thune said during a press conference Thursday.

"The Pentagon is dead wrong for recommending we close a single base while we're at war," added the freshman senator who told South Dakota voters during his campaign to defeat Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle last fall that he was their best hope for keeping Ellsworth Air Force Base open.

The base, home of the B-1B bomber, is targeted for closure. The Defense Department maintains that the current round of closings would save nearly $50 billion over 20 years, as the department continues its restructuring of the Armed Services in a post Cold War world in which terrorism has become the dominant threat. Thune is primary sponsor of a Senate bill that would delay any further rounds of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) until several actions are taken, including the following:

• Analysis and implementation of the bipartisan Overseas Basing Commission report, which is an evaluation of U.S. overseas forces.

• Evaluation by Congress of the Quadrennial Defense Review Report due in early 2006, a periodic review of the nation's defense needs.

• Withdrawal of most of the U.S. forces stationed in Iraq. Thune's bill has 10 co-sponsors, all of whom represent states on the Pentagon's closure list.

The senators are

Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.;

Susan Collins, R-Maine;

Pete Domenici, R-N.M.;

Judd Gregg, R-N.H.;

Tim Johnson, D-S.D.;

Trent Lott, R-Miss.;

Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska;

Olympia Snowe, R-Maine;

Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and

John Sununu, R-N.H.

"We're looking to put the brakes on this runaway train that threatens to derail our national security," said Snowe, who noted that the Northeast and Midwest were hit hard in previous rounds of base closings.

Thune said their best hope might be to attach the measure as an amendment to a bill setting the Pentagon's spending in fiscal year 2006. Action by the House Armed Services Committee provided an indication of the uphill climb. The panel this week soundly rejected two attempts to halt the review by a nine-member BRAC commission. The commission has until September to evaluate the recommendations and deliver its own proposal to President Bush.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)