|
HOLT, PALLONE BLAST DEFENSE DEPARTMENT FOR RECOMMENDING FORT MONMOUTH'S CLOSURE |
|
| |
|
Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Reps. Rush Holt (NJ-12) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today issued the following statements regarding the recommendation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that Fort Monmouth be closed and its activities consolidated at other military facilities under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
Rep. Holt's response:
" There is no way to describe this recommendation other than deeply flawed and highly dangerous. Closing Fort Monmouth will damage our national security, and jeopardize the safety and effectiveness of the men and women serving in our Armed Forces. The work done at Fort Monmouth would not be done as well elsewhere. The human capital we have here in New Jersey will not transfer to other bases – in fact, it will take years, if not decades, for military communications R&D to recover.
" There is no way that Fort Monmouth should be on the list if the BRAC Commission applied the criteria it was given. The Army recognized that Fort Monmouth had critical military value, and somehow some in the Pentagon have ignored that value.
" I am sorely disappointed with this list, and I will fight like hell to change it. I have been working at this for more than two years, and I’m not about to let the Pentagon’s error put the Fort and the soldiers it serves in harm’s way."
Rep. Pallone's response:
"I'm extremely disappointed by the Defense Department's irresponsible and potentially dangerous recommendation to close Fort Monmouth. I believe the BRAC criteria was flawed from the beginning after the Defense Department refused to adequately weight the critical research and development necessary to build the military of the future.
"The Fort has played a unique role in the war against terror both at home and abroad. Our troops in Iraq can better protect themselves and root out insurgence thanks to advanced technologies developed at the Fort. After first responder communication systems became inoperable on September 11th, Fort-designed communications were used in search and rescue missions. The essential brain power that perfected these technologies cannot simply be replaced or transferred some place else.
"Fort Monmonth's been targeted before and survived. Just as I have in the past, I will fight hard to prove to the Pentagon that Fort Monmouth is invaluable to the military of today and tomorrow." |
|
| |
|
### |
|
