Subject of base closings heats up

WASHINGTON — Congressionally mandated plans to close unneeded military facilities have emerged as an election-year issue, especially in states where installations are vulnerable to the budget ax.

Among those calling for reconsideration of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round is Sen. John Kerry, the presumed Democratic Party presidential nominee, who voted in 2001 for the cuts.

The Bush administration supports the reductions, which are projected to save the government billions of dollars.

But Kerry and other lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, say the process has been overtaken by the war in Iraq and America's strategic military needs.

"I don't see how you can make those decisions until you have the proper analysis of what is needed for our nation," Kerry, D-Mass., said in a speech outlining his defense initiatives at George Washington University.

Kerry said a final round of closures shouldn't begin "until we are clear that we are not wasting resources on excess bases and until we know what our future needs will be at home and around the world."

The Bush campaign accuses Kerry of playing politics with national defense, noting he voted three times for base closures but now wants to halt the process.

"Candidate Kerry wants to suspend the base closure commission, while Sen. Kerry has strongly advocated military base closures," said Danny Diaz, a Bush campaign spokesman.

"He is on two totally different sides of the issue. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth," Diaz said.

The sniping comes one year before the administration must submit to Congress a list of bases to be closed.

The first four rounds — in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 — resulted in the closure of 97 "major installations" in the United States, according to a Defense Department report submitted to Congress in March. The 2005 list is expected to exceed that number.

In its March report, the Defense Department estimated the military's excess capacity at 24 percent. Based on previous rounds, it projected potential savings of $5 billion in 2011, when actions would be final, with recurring savings of $8 billion a year.

Under the base closure law, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld must submit his recommendations to the nine-member BRAC commission by May 16, 2005.

"The process is in motion and unless Congress changes the law, we have no recourse but to continue," said Glenn Flood, a Pentagon spokesman. "There is a need and there will be savings."

Calls for postponing the round of base closings is strongly embraced in states where communities fear that their installations — and millions in federal payroll dollars — are vulnerable to elimination.

Many of those states could play key roles in the November election and are considered pivotal to winning the presidency.

New Hampshire and Maine are concerned about the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which narrowly escaped closure in the 1995 round.

In Georgia and Florida, which are home to numerous military installations, a base closure round is seen as economic roulette. Those states fared well in the past, but a new round could hit home.

"Georgia has been immune to closures, but they feel vulnerable this time around," said Paul Taibl with Business Executives for National Security.

Florida is home to several bases and facilities that conduct testing, research and development, as well as industrial depots that repair military craft.

"States with those types of bases are more attentive to base closures," Taibl said.

Texas has 17 major military installations with a combined $49 billion in annual economic impact. Four of those bases are located in San Antonio, and four installations and large facilities are in the Coastal Bend region near Corpus Christi.

Many in the state's congressional delegation, including Hutchison, support efforts to postpone another round in 2005.

Hutchison, like Kerry, has called for analysis and accounting of troop structure overseas before another round is implemented. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., also has called for a delay in closing bases.

But Hutchison, unlike Kerry, voted to shelve the 2005 base realignment and closure round, commonly referred to as BRAC. Kerry did not cast a vote when the issue came before the Senate on June 4, 2003.

"He didn't bother showing up," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, "which undermines his attacks on President Bush and the current administration.

"There is no question about it, there are people who will play politics with BRAC," said Cornyn, who voted in favor of a 2005 round despite Texas' vulnerability to future cuts.

Kerry, in a statement to the Portsmouth Herald of New Hampshire, said the Bush administration plan to close bases "is driven more by ideology than by careful planning."

And he suggested the closure round be postponed until the Army has increased its personnel by a goal of 30,000 and force structure analysis determines how many U.S. troops will be returning from overseas bases.

"There is a terrible disconnect between the stated goals of the base closure process and the realities we face today in managing our force structure," Kerry said in the statement.

In the House, Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, has found bipartisan support for his effort to kill another BRAC round in the House Armed Services Committee.

He introduced a bill last month that would delay for two years another base closure round, citing the changing needs of U.S. troops since the terror attacks of 2001.

Nonetheless, it's unlikely Congress will stop a process that has been endorsed by Democratic and Republican presidential administrations during the past two decades.

"There are always people who want to delay it, but once it's on the books, the history has been that we have followed through with the legislative round of closures," Taibl said.

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2 posted on 04/08/2004 2:31:33 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (If Woody had gone straight to the police, this would never have happened!)

When I was in New Mexico over the last two weeks, there was a lot of talk about how bad it would be if the state loses just one base (Kirtland is the base everyone seems worried about) or how it could tank the economy if two or more close.

Among those calling for reconsideration of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round is Sen. John Kerry, ...who voted in 2001 for the cuts.

This Kerry guy is just too funny! Those of us on the pro-liberty side of politics can be very thankful that Kerry is our opponent.

When I was in New Mexico over the last two weeks, there was a lot of talk about how bad it would be if the state loses just one base.

Yeah, they're right. If Uncle Sugar Daddy stops sending them so much money, their life is basically over -- time to pack it in.

Seriously, I hope these people know they are living in the best, most vibrant country in the world, with a million new opportunities all around them. If some bases are closed in their area I hope they'll have the courage and creativity to find lots of great new opportunities.

When I was in New Mexico over the last two weeks, there was a lot of talk about how bad it would be if the state loses just one base.

Yeah, they're right. If Uncle Sugar Daddy stops sending them so much money, their life is basically over -- time to pack it in.

Close Hanscom AFB, MA, in Kerry/Kennedy's backyard. No active runway that our jets can land on and only there because of Mitre. AWACS here at Tinker has a terrible time getting anything out of Hanscom that is still over them. The funds get appropriated and Hanscom AFB program managers treat it like the funds belong in MA not to be given to AWACS headquartered here at Tinker. Worthless base!

Should have been closed in the last round! People of that area hate the military so oblige them and close the base!

My two cents!

I'm for that!
Leave Georgia alone.
Close down a few more in Germany and South Korea.
Now that the DOD is comfortable operating in joint force operations, build a couple more Naval carrier groups and enlarge a few more desert and mountain area installations.
Base the base closures on actual DOD needs, not political pork.

12 posted on 04/08/2004 5:18:40 PM PDT by sarasmom (Watching mainstream liberal media "news reports" will cause brain atrophy.)

"Leave Georgia alone."

Amen to that. My father was stationed at Moody Air Force Base in the early eighties, and it was my favorite base to live on.

13 posted on 04/08/2004 6:35:23 PM PDT by Arpege92 (America and Israel are two countries that were founded on the rejection of Europe. -Dr. M. Azaryahu)

I am with you 100%! Keep the bases that are working and make sense. Here at Tinker AFB, we have a 1300 Navy contingent of the E-6 which is the same airframe for AWACS. The Navy gets along great here. They had better leave the depots alone -- there is no room on Robins or Tinker to absorb Hill AFB.

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