Lawmakers starting to see value in a new BRAC round.

* Members of Congress are increasingly starting to see the benefits of a new round of base realignment and closures, commonly referred to as BRAC, said the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

"I think this whole notion that BRACs are stupid because they cost money is getting increasingly difficult to justify as an argument, as is the notion that somehow we can just do it with overseas bases," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told reporters. "The notion that this was completely unacceptable, which existed about a year ago, is not there anymore amongst my fellow members."

The Defense Department has used BRAC to close more than 350 installations in five rounds from 1988 to 2005 as a way to more effectively reallocate troops at times when rapid military adjustments needed to be made. Following the 2005 round of closures and realignments, the Government Accountability Office estimated that the process cost about $35 billion to achieve only about $4 billion in net annual recurring savings.

These numbers have caused lawmakers to approach the idea of a fresh round of closures with skepticism, but recent appeals by defense community coalitions to consider doing a BRAC have shifted attitudes in Congress, said Smith. "What they have started to tell their members of Congress is do a...