Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) released the following statement after the Department of Defense held a briefing today for Virginia delegation staff members on the Joint Forces Command closure:

“Unfortunately, the information provided by Department of Defense officials today was nothing more than the same talking points that were provided to us a month ago. Not only has the DoD refused to provide the actual legal opinion concluding that a JFCOM closure does not trigger BRAC action, but they failed to answer repeated requests from Congress for the research and cost-savings analyses related to the JFCOM decision. In fact, the only new piece of information that the DoD provided to our staff today is the fact that the JFCOM closure is a 'philosophical decision' made by the Secretary of Defense, having nothing to do with monetary savings.

“The bottom line is that continued lack of transparency and failure of trust is destroying the Pentagon’s credibility. This type of non-disclosure is unacceptable and we will not allow the Department of Defense to continue to circumvent the law.”

The briefing was meant to provide additional information surrounding the Secretary of Defense’s announcement to close Joint Forces Command. It was led by Robert Hale, Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer. Other DoD officials at the briefing included Robert Taylor, OSD Principal Deputy General Counsel; Christine Fox, Director Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation; Lisa Disbrow, Joint Chiefs of Staff (J-8); and Rear Admiral William Lescher, Deputy Director for Resources & Acquisition (J-8).

Representatives from Governor McDonnell, Senators Warner and Webb, and Reps. Forbes, Nye, Scott, Wittman, Connolly, Butterfield (NC), and Jones (NC) were in attendance.

For more information on the work Congressman Forbes has done regarding the JFCOM closure decision, visit http://forbes.house.gov/jfcom.