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News from Rep. Stephanie Herseth
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Russ Levsen, 202-226-4449

May 18, 2005, Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth today introduced legislation in the House to postpone the 2005 round of defense base closures and realignments. Herseth’s bill is identical to legislation introduced by Senators Thune and Johnson today.

Herseth said, “Given the uncertainty in our military today, now is not the time to be shutting down domestic military installations. We have more than 100,000 soldiers currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; we are planning to realign our overseas bases; and we will complete comprehensive quadrennial defense review next year. My bill delays the BRAC process until we have these important questions answered.”

The bill would postpone the BRAC recommendations until one year after the last of these actions occurs: the recommendations of the Review of Overseas Military Facility Structure are implemented by the Secretary of Defense; a substantial number of American troops return from Iraq; the House and Senate Armed Services Committees receive the quadrennial defense review; implementation of the National Maritime Security Strategy; and implementation of the Homeland Defense and Civil Support directive.

Because the bill is identical to the bill introduced in the Senate, if both pass without amendments, the legislation would not need to go through the Conference Committee process, saving valuable time.