[CPEO-IRF] Veto threat over proposed BRAC delay

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

White House Threatens Defense Bill Veto

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press/Washington Post
July 22, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is threatening to veto a sweeping 
defense bill if lawmakers try to delay the latest round of military base 
closures to spare installations back home.

In a statement, the administration said it would "strongly oppose any 
amendment to weaken, delay or repeal" the base-closing process and 
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would recommend that the president 
veto any bill that includes such a provision.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is trying to save 
Ellsworth Air Force Base, late Thursday proposed an amendment to the 
defense bill that would require the Pentagon to complete several 
operational reviews and return U.S. troops from Iraq before Congress 
signs off on the final version of the base-closing plan.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072201101.html

Here is the actual language about BRAC from the July 21, 2005 Statement 
of Administation Policy:

Base Realignment and Closure: The Administration strongly opposes the 
$376 million funding reduction for implementing recommendations of the 
2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. This reduction 
would slow BRAC implementation and thus delay achievement of the mission 
improvements provided by BRAC changes, costing the DOD more money over 
the long term. Delaying the completion of base closures and realignments 
also would hinder community efforts to quickly reuse DOD facilities and 
mitigate the economic impact of BRAC actions.

The Administration would strongly oppose any amendment to weaken, delay, 
or repeal the authority for the 2005 BRAC round. If the President is 
presented a bill that weakens, delays, or repeals the BRAC authority, 
the Secretary of Defense, joining with other senior advisors, will 
recommend that the President veto the bill.


--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org

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