August 26 , 2005

BRAC: A Necessary Evil

COLUMBUS – Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington) today issued the following editorial:

In what is certain to have the Neilsen Ratings people scratching their heads for months to come, much of the nation was transfixed to their televisions last week watching C-SPAN2. For cities across the country, however, it was a dramatic and emotional couple of days as the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission considered the list of military bases and facilities identified by the Pentagon for closure and realignment.

For many areas across the U.S., military facilities are the lifeblood of the local economies, creating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue. The closure of their facility can bring cataclysmic economic ruin. However, our military needs have evolved dramatically over the years, and many facilities have outlived their strategic purpose, could be merged into other installations, or no longer perform a function critical to our military’s success.

The BRAC process was adopted in 1990 in an attempt to depoliticize the process for closing antiquated or unnecessary military installations across the country. Prior to BRAC, closing a base was nearly impossible, as powerful committee chairmen ferociously defended their states’ facilities, and political considerations and election concerns derailed the process. As a result, some bases remained in operation years past their prime, unnecessarily costing taxpayers billions of dollars, and eating up precious federal dollars that could be used far more effectively elsewhere.

BRAC represented a solution to this. Under the process, an objective, nonpartisan group of nine commissioners is to dispassionately choose facilities for closure based on raw numbers and strategic considerations, and an up or down vote by the President and Congress is required on the entire list without amendment. Theoretically, the process is then freed from the political baggage that hamstrung the process for decades.

I am pleased to report that the BRAC process is working. This current round of closures – the fifth round since BRAC’s inception -- is expected to save taxpayers $49 billion over the next 20 years, according to Pentagon officials. The four previous rounds of BRAC have saved Americans approximately $17.7 billion, which includes the cost of environmental cleanup, with recurring savings of approximately $7 billion annually.  Equally important, BRAC has helped our nation’s defense system transform from a Cold War model to one better equipped to deal with the international threats and challenges of the post-Cold War era.

And BRAC has worked locally. Last week the BRAC Commissioners recognized the critical importance of Whitehall’s Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) to our military’s infrastructure and effectiveness. BRAC consolidated the nation’s military accounting service facilities (DFAS) from 26 to 5, fully preserving our DFAS Columbus. BRAC merged several local Army Reserve Corps units into DSCC, thereby providing these units with the better facilities located at DSCC, and making DSCC a stronger installation as it becomes even more multifaceted.

In preparation for impending BRAC rounds, communities undertake costly and sometimes extraordinary measures in an attempt to inoculate their facilities from closure. Some hire marketing firms to wage glitzy public relation campaigns on behalf of their facility. The State of Texas proposed an amendment to its constitution to authorize $250 million in bonds to help protect its military installations. A non-profit community organization in Shreveport, Louisiana built 300 housing units at Barksdale Air Force Base – at no cost to DOD – to buffer the Base from potential BRAC housing criticisms.

Central Ohio also undertook an astonishing effort to highlight DSCC’s attributes. During my tenure in Congress, I have never participated in a more cooperative and strategic effort to protect a resource in our area. The Central Ohio congressional delegation, our two Senators, the Greater Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and countless local officials worked hand in hand to highlight DSCC, demonstrate its strategic importance, and showcase the incredible work ethic of central Ohioans.

We in central Ohio can breathe a sigh of relief, as the more than 6000 civilian and military workers at DSCC can return their full focus to professionally serving our nation. But if we expect our national defense and its infrastructure to remain lean and mean, we must be prepared for the scrutiny of the next round of BRAC closures in the not so distant future.