FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2005
CONTACT: Chris Paulitz
SENATOR HUTCHISON SAYS TEXAS SHOWED UNITED FRONT AT BRAC REGIONAL HEARING
WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), who coordinated today’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission regional hearing in San Antonio, said Texas showed a united front and the base communities conducted impressive presentations.
“Our base communities should be commended for their superb presentations to the BRAC commission,” said Sen. Hutchison, who successfully lobbied BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi to personally attend the hearing. “While saving bases listed for closure or realignment is a daunting task, every community made a compelling case today.”
Yesterday, Sen. Hutchison led Chairman Principi on a tour of Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, and Naval Station Ingleside in Corpus Christi so he could see first hand how valuable the installations are to our nation.
“Most important is the fact that the community supporters showed up in big numbers. They added a vitality that makes a factual presentation even stronger. Facts and figures, combined with community support, makes a strong argument in favor of our military installations,” Sen. Hutchison continued.
“Today we showed the error in the Department of Defense using 2003 numbers for decisions being made in 2005 and beyond and were able to point out errors in the Pentagon’s calculations. We called attention to the importance of surge capacity, which was largely overlooked in the recommendations. We showed the unique capabilities of several bases, pointed out efficiencies in Texas that were not taken into account and added homeland security to the decision-making process, which must be a part of any post-2001 defense calculation."
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