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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jim Saxton (R-NJ) sent the following letter today to House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) and ranking member Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Chairman Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) and ranking member Randy Forbes (R-VA) urging them to hold another hearing after the Pentagon's caveat report is filed.
December 17, 2007
The Honorable Ike Skelton The Honorable Duncan Hunter
Chairman Ranking Member
House Armed Services Committee House Armed Services Committee
2120 Rayburn House Office Building 2120 Rayburn House Office Building
The Honorable Solomon Ortiz The Honorable Randy Forbes
Chairman Ranking Member
Readiness Subcommittee Readiness Subcommittee
House Armed Services Committee House Armed Services Committee
2120 Rayburn House Office Building 2120 Rayburn House Office Building
Dear Chairman Skelton,
We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your efforts in putting together the December 12th hearing on BRAC Implementation.
The testimony, questions and earnest exchange at the hearing underscored the problems and errors in the 2005 BRAC process and, we believe, demonstrated the need for continued, aggressive Congressional oversight. Accordingly, we respectfully request that the House Armed Services Committee hold a follow up hearing to the aforementioned hearing to evaluate the Fort Monmouth-specific report the Department of Defense (DOD) plans to file by the end of this year.
When the BRAC Commission issued its final report in August 2005, it attached a caveat to its recommendation that Fort Monmouth be closed. Specifically, the Commission required that with regard to the Fort Monmouth closure decision, "the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the Congressional Committees of Jurisdiction that movement of organizations, functions or activities from Fort Monmouth to Aberdeen Proving Ground will be accomplished without disruption of their support for the Global War on Terror."
This caveat was the result of a compromise among the BRAC Commissioners. Some were unwilling to go along with the Fort Monmouth closure recommendation unless the Pentagon further addressed concerns about the closure's impact on the military's war efforts.
Since the report will be specifically addressed to the Armed Services Committee, we respectfully request the committee convene a hearing to investigate whether DOD followed the BRAC report language and complied with the law in preparing its report. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
Sincerely,
FRANK PALLONE, JR. CHRISTOPHER SMITH
Member of Congress Member of Congress
RUSH HOLT JIM SAXTON
Member of Congress Member of Congress
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