Murkowski Co-sponsors Legislation to Require Delivery of BRAC Data
Murkowski Co-sponsors Legislation to Require Delivery of BRAC Data
Defense Department Must Meet Requirements or BRAC Round Would Be Canceled
In light of the delay by the Department of Defense (DoD) in releasing all certified data and documentation related to its recent BRAC recommendations, Sen. Lisa Murkowski this week co-sponsored legislation that would shut down the current BRAC round if this information is not available for use by communities in defending against possible realignments and closures.
The legislation, S.1127, would require that DoD provide to Congress all requested documentation related to the 2005 BRAC round within 7 days of the legislation's enactment. Required documentation includes: certified data collected during requests for information made by the Pentagon prior to making its BRAC recommendations and all documentation related to DoD's application of military value criteria and other criteria to assets recommended for closure or realignment.
The Pentagon's recommendations to the BRAC commission regarding Alaska bases have caused concern across the State - especially in Fairbanks where it is recommended that Eielson Air Force base be reduced to warm status - a reduction that could result in the direct and indirect loss of 4,700 jobs in the Fairbanks area.
"In a State where support for our servicemen and servicewomen and their missions is both given and constant, the golden heart of Alaska probably beats strongest in the areas of Fairbanks and North Pole," Sen. Murkowski said in a statement in support of the legislation on the Senate Floor.
"On the morning of May 13--Friday the 13th, oddly enough--the people of the interior of Alaska awoke to the news that the Department of Defense had proposed to realign Eielson Air Force Base. Two weeks after the fact, the people of interior Alaska are still scratching their heads and wondering why, what is going on here, what has happened up here? Two weeks after we learn of this news, the Air Force cannot--or will not--tell the people of Fairbanks why.
"The people of interior Alaska deserve to know why, and I certainly deserve to know why. The answers to these questions are more than just academic interest. On June 15, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission will conduct a hearing on the recommendations pertaining to Eielson Air Force Base. At this point, we are less than three weeks from the date upon which that presentation, that do-or-die presentation, must be delivered to the BRAC Commission. And yet still the Air Force cannot release the detailed analysis which supported their recommendations. This is unfair to the community that has offered nothing but unconditional love and support for the military. It goes beyond unconscionable."
Should the DoD comply, all deadlines for reporting by the BRAC Commission would be extended by the same number of days after May 16 (the original reporting date) that it took for the DoD to provide information to the Commission.
http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=238350