Posted on 05/27/2005 3:19:20 PM PDT by finnman69
Speaking out for the first time in favor of controversial base closings, President Bush said Friday the nation is wasting billions of dollars on unnecessary military facilities and needs the money for the war on terrorism.
Bush, who faces opposition from many states to shutting down bases, tried to be reassuring. He said the bases would be chosen fairly and the government would do all it could to help affected communities recover.
But he made clear that the process — however painful — could not be avoided.
In a speech to graduates of the Naval Academy, he said the closings and realignments "will result in a military that is more efficient and better prepared so you can better protect the American people against the dangers of this new century."
"In this war, there is only one option and that is victory," he said, to cheers from midshipmen, relatives and faculty at the academy on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.
When Bush last spoke at a Naval Academy commencement, it was four months before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and his focus was his administration's effort to reshape the military into a faster, lighter and more flexible — but not larger — fighting force.
Since the attacks, and amid a global anti-terror campaign and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a top-to-bottom military transformation is even more necessary, Bush said. Keys to the success are new technology, repositioning of global forces, new weapons and realigned bases at home, he said.
Bush said he understands the fears in cities where bases have been marked for changes or closure. The first round of closings in a decade has members of Congress and local officials working hard to protect the 33 major bases slated for closure and the 29 others proposed for downsizing.
"I know firsthand how hard base closings can be on local communities," said the former Texas governor who saw facilities shut down in his state.
Members of the congressionally chartered Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) will visit bases and hold hearings on the Pentagon proposal. The plan aims to save $48.8 billion over 20 years by eliminating redundant and inefficient facilitates and promoting cooperation among the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
The panel will decide on any changes to the Pentagon plan and then give a list to Bush and Congress this fall for approval or rejection.
Commission chairman Anthony Principi on Friday joined a growing chorus of lawmakers demanding that the Defense Department quickly release the thousands of pages of data backing up each of its recommendations.
"We cannot make informed decisions without the data," Principi said on Capitol Hill. "That's critical to our work."
Though all bases have defenders, Bush suggested most efforts to save them will be futile.
"We have more bases than we need," Bush said. "Supporting these facilities wastes billions of taxpayers' dollars, money that can be better spent on giving you the tools to fight terrorists and confront 21st century threats."
The graduation ceremonies got under way with 21 cannon blasts and a fast and low flyover by the Blue Angels, the Navy's precision team of F/A-18 Hornets. After speaking, Bush handed out diplomas to those graduating with distinction and, remaining standing for over two hours, he shook the hands of all 976 graduates. In return, the Class of 2005 gave him Naval Academy blankets and a jogging suit, and he promptly put on the jacket in place of his suit jacket.
The graduates, like decades of others before them, hurled their white hats into the blue sky.
In his 30-minute address, the president sought to inspire the midshipmen who were about to become military officers and future leaders of the country's armed forces.
"Show courage, and not just on the battlefield. Pursue the possibilities others tell you do not exist," he said. "The opponents of change are many and its champions are few, but the champions of change are the ones who make history. Be champions, and you'll make America safer for your children and your grandchildren, and you'll add to the character of our nation."
Bush thanked those whom he had addressed on the same field four years earlier and who went on to serve in operations around the globe. He recounted the wartime deeds of several by name, and one whose name he said he could not reveal because he was now a Navy SEAL.
"They are serving our nation with valor and distinction," Bush said, "and soon you'll join them."
That's what government does best. Waste billions.
Interesting to find the local military experts [ret] showing up to explain how the base is vital to the community, but not a word about military necessity when the military is reorienting to face the Pacific theater.
Quit sending billions to useless idiots overseas.
Why did GW hand over 50 mil to the enemy? Is that what he means by "we need the money to fight terrorism?"
Well then, someone should tell him to put that money to good use on the border!!!!
Not very painful for folks back home in Texas.
Members of the congressionally chartered Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) will visit bases and hold hearings on the Pentagon proposal. The plan aims to save $48.8 billion over 20 years by eliminating redundant and inefficient facilitates and promoting cooperation among the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. "
That is table scraps over 20 years, Jorge. You just promised and signed into law the " No NEA Union Member Left Behind" bill with Kennedy for twice that much dough.
Open the borders, close the bases, ......then what? Take the guns?? NWO
If you have worked for any corporation, you face the very same thing through reorganizations and downsizings.
A government should run as efficiently as a corporation. Those CEO's sure don't waste time worrying about the jobs they cut. They make money or the corporation sinks period.
Same with the government - we taxpayers are tired of the waste and it needs to be stopped.
Always wanted to say that.
COMMUNITY REUSE OF FORMER MILITARY BASES
April 21, 1999
Despite significant improvements since 1993, the federal process for making closing military bases available for community reuse is still too cumbersome and slow. To promote more rapid reuse, President Clinton today announced:
* The Department of Defense (DoD) will ask Congress for the authority to transfer former base property to local communities at no cost if they use it for job-generating economic development. This policy of no-cost Economic Development Conveyances (EDC) will eliminate the need for time-consuming property appraisals and negotiations, thereby speeding property transfer and reuse and reducing DoD's cost to maintain and operate the property.
* DoD is organizing a Base Reuse "Red Team" composed of senior military and DoD civilian officials to implement the EDC policy and tackle remaining problems.
Between 1988 and 1995, the federal government selected 97 military bases for closure, and 62 of the 74 closures that involve a significant community impact have already occurred, most since 1993. In July 1993, President Clinton announced a five-part program to give priority to rapid redevelopment of closing bases and job creation by host communities. This program, which represented a sharp departure from past federal policy, has produced significant achievements:
* Most important, DoD has completed 35 EDCs of property totaling 30,500 acres. EDCs allow communities to acquire base property at a discount if it will be used to create jobs.
* The federal government has provided more than $1 billion in transition assistance to workers and communities affected by base closures.
* By providing larger economic planning grants, DoD has helped communities reduce the time it takes them to develop a base reuse plan from 57 months to only 21 months.
* Environmental cleanup of closing bases is occurring faster and with better coordination between federal, state and local officials.
Because of extraordinary community leadership, combined with a strong economy and President Clinton's commitment to help affected communities, closing military bases are becoming engines of local economic renewal all across the country:
* 50,000 civilian jobs have been created at bases closed since 1988; that's 48 percent of all the civilian jobs lost due to closure.
* More than 1,300 private and public sector employers now operate at closed bases.
* 15 communities have created more jobs at former bases than were lost due to closure.
* In December 1998, the General Accounting Office reported that two-thirds of the communities affected by closure had an unemployment rate at or below the national rate.
If the Prez is truly interested in cutting waste, he would've started with all the social welfare programs.
Neocons want to move out of local domestic bases to their new overseas bases;
Sure didn't happen that way at Loring Air Force Base when they closed in September 1994.
Bush is to be lauded for this. I happen to know that in this BRAC great pains have been taken to keep politics out of it. Though, to be fair I think that this is more or less true in prior ones.
There is a element of irony here for LBJ was notorious for political dealings with bases both as a Senator and, to a lesser extent, as a President.
Unless we are going to have an arms forces the size of the one in the Cold War, we need to close some.
That was my thought when I read that bases remaining open would be wasting money. I guess he doesn't think that giving 50 billion dollars to a terrorist "nation" is a waste. Somehow he and I don't agree on that - and a number of other things.
Billions? How about thousands of billions.
Trillions.
"Here is the deal: first, you talk---even to your staff---you say one word, and the deal is off; second, you get ALL my judges and Bolton confirmed---not just voted on, confirmed; I will then AFTER the base bill is pushed through issue and executive order in which I say, 'The Pentagon has now tole me that there are certain emergency needs for the following bases, and I am exempting them from these cuts'" Anyone who voted right on all the judges gets a base back; anyone who voted wrong gets one yanked in a special Pentagon request later.
I would then call in the stalwarts---John Kyl, Mitch McConnell, John Cronyn, etc.---and say, "I can't do anything about your bases now. You'll have to take a bullet for the team. But I promise that I will make it up to you big time."
Let the wafflers who play ball crow a little; placate the stalwarts who must suffer a while longer. Get everyone confirmed and worry about the "principle" of the filibuster later, because in the end EVERYTHING is politics and EVERYTHING is a deal.
Your right, some of us pay 10-14,000 a year in taxes, not to mention gas, etc.. Especially makes me mad when illegals are getting free things and average people like us are struggling and don't get any slack. The government has turned into a welfare recipient, dependent on our money and will take away your home, car, bank accounts as they wish.
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