Subcommittee opposes base closure

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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[Note: Delaying the 2005 round of base closures is not a done deal. In
recent years, the U.S. Senate has been more friendly to the closure
process. - LS]

House subcommittee votes to delay base closures

By TARA COPP and JAMES BROSNAN
Times Record News (TX)
May 6, 2004

A bill to delay the 2005 round of base closures until 2007 gained
support in the House Thursday, a sign that the increased wartime
pressure on the military could stall efforts to trim and modernize the forces.

Congress has just started the 2005 base realignment and closure process
that could shutter or significantly alter as many as one-fourth of the
nation's approximately 400 major installations. The Pentagon says it has
about 25 percent more facilities than it needs, and closing the bases
eventually could save up to $6 billion a year. The Pentagon has said the
cuts are needed to save money for new weapons and to make the military
more efficient.

But some members of Congress are starting to balk at the idea of cutting
bases at a time when the Pentagon is asking for more troops to fight in
Iraq. On top of that, the Pentagon is also considering relocating
thousands of soldiers in Europe and South Korea back to bases in the
United States. The Pentagon hasn't yet given its plan for that
relocation to Congress.

"The United States military is experiencing an extraordinary level of
stress due to the war against terrorism and the effort to rebuild Iraq,"
said Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., chairman of the House Armed Services
readiness subcommittee. "For the Defense Department to make irreversible
decisions to close or realign military installations before these
changes have been fully considered ... would be a terrible mistake."

The subcommittee attached the two-year delay to the 2005 defense
authorization spending bill it passed Thursday. The full Armed Services
Committee will consider the bill next week.
...

for the entire story, see
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_washington/article/0,1891,TRN_5707_2865477,00.html

-- 


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
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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