| Washington D.C.- Luis Fortuño, the Resident Commissioner in Washington, met today with Anthony Principi, chairman of the Base Closing and Realignment Commission (BRAC), to talk about keeping Fort Buchanan in Puerto Rico as an active military base. Fortuño, who has spent months working to ensure that Fort Buchanan remains open, told Principi about the importance of that military installation to the island. “It is extremely important that the Department of Defense understand that Fort Buchanan is the last military installation left in Puerto Rico and that it provides numerous services that are fundamental for the deployment of close to 14,000 reservists on the island. Buchanan is more than a mobilization center; the base has great strategic value for the Caribbean and it’s the only base with a bilingual force within the Department of Defense,” Fortuño said after the meeting with Principi.
Fortuño, who had held meetings with Principi when he was Secretary of Veteran´s Affairs, also emphasized the local importance of Fort Buchanan, describing the services that the base provides to train reservists and support the National Guard, our veterans and their families, federal agencies during emergency management in the Caribbean, and 23 agencies or units of the Department of Defense or others. In addition, Fort Buchanan is responsible for injecting millions of dollars into the local economy. The Resident Commissioner, who also had meetings with Pentagon and White House representatives, including Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Joel Hefley, both members of the Armed Forces Committee, handed Principi a veterans organizations’ resolution in support of the permanence of the fort unanimously approved on March 31.
Fortuño, who has also requested close to $70 million from the Appropriations Committee for two fort projects, said, “my commitment to our veterans, active members of the military and their families who use Buchanan as an operations and service center is unswerving. My meeting with Anthony Principi is crucial in efforts to ensure that the base stays in Puerto Rico. Beyond the meetings with the Pentagon, the White House and members of Congress, it was necessary to have this meeting with the person who chairs this committee and who will make some recommendations regarding whether bases throughout the nation will be closed or remain.”
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