FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2004
CONTACT: Kevin Schweers
SENATOR HUTCHISON: HOMELAND SECURITY,
OVERSEAS BASING SHOULD BE IN BRAC CRITERIA
WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) today sent a letter to the Pentagon requesting the Department of Defense (DOD) adjust the final criteria for the 2005 base realignment and closure (BRAC) to include homeland security needs and the utility of overseas bases. On December 23rd, the DOD released the draft BRAC criteria for assessing the military value of installations, kicking off a public comment period before final guidelines are issued in March.
The letter to Peter Potochney, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, read in part: "While military value is important to assessing the necessity of installations, the DOD should also conduct a comprehensive study of U.S. military facilities abroad and determine whether existing base structures and locations meet the needs of current and future missions. It would be unwise to close or realign domestic bases that may be needed for troops returning from outdated facilities abroad.
"The DOD should also consider how closing or realigning installations affects our homeland security. The current draft criteria, very similar to that proposed in the previous BRAC rounds, do not fully reflect the security issues our country faces in the wake of September 11, 2001.
"Our nation is not dealing with the same threats as we were in 1995 and therefore we must develop new strategies to ensure the military does not close a base only to later realize its costly mistake," said Senator Hutchison, Chairman of the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee.
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