OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Disapproving the Recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission

Date: Oct. 28, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Defense


DISAPPROVING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DEFENSE BASE CLOSURE AND REALIGNMENT COMMISSION -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 28, 2005)

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 65) disapproving the recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission:

* Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 65, ``Disapproving of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.''

* The BRAC Commission was tasked in the current round of base closures to target and eradicate inefficiency. Unfortunately, there was a host of friendly fire and significant collateral damage.

* I strongly support our military's attempts to streamline its infrastructure and reduce its operating budget, especially considering the deficits this Administration is running up. However, base closures can not impede the ability of the United States of America to protect its people.

* The Department of Defense, DOD, knows this, and rightly placed paramount emphasis on military value in its recommendations. The Secretary of Defense proposed to consolidate the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, DFAS, from an unnecessarily redundant twenty-six locations to three central sites. The DFAS center at Buckley Annex, housed in my district in Colorado, was chosen as one of these three sites in part due to its superlative performance on the military value test. In fact, when the BRAC Commission considered the DFAS realignment Denver's site ranked first in this category.

* For reasons other than military value, the BRAC Commission recommended closing DFAS Denver and moving the Air Reserve Personnel Center to Texas.

* Our city has suffered large base closures in past BRAC rounds. Now, despite a proud history of support for our nation's armed forces, Denver will have virtually no military presence left when these recommendations are executed. Mr. Chairman, given the carefully analyzed proposal submitted by the Secretary of Defense, this is a result that I simply cannot support.

* I ask my colleagues to support this Joint Resolution, and show their disapproval of these inequitable and inefficient recommendations.

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