Senators Call for More Base Closures.

• Author: Stone, Ben
• Position: Carl Levin and John McCain - Brief Article

Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have introduced legislation authorizing two additional rounds of military base realignment and closure. 5. 397 would authorize base-closure rounds in 2003 and 2005.

Originally, the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 1990 was enacted to reduce redundant and under-used military infrastructure. Three previous rounds of BRAC in 1991, 1993 and 1995 reduced the number of military bases within the United States by more than 20 percent. During the same time period, many overseas bases also were closed.

BRAC requires that the Defense Department establish an independent commission to review base realignments and closures proposed by the military branches. The Pentagon sets specific criteria for evaluating the list, which then is approved or denied as a whole by the president and Congress.

The McCain-Levin bill proposes several changes to the BRAC process. S. 397 requires that the evaluation criteria include all costs and savings to the federal government. Previous legislation required only that cost or savings to the Defense Department be considered. Secondly, the bill would allow privatization-in-place of the military facility only if it is found to be the most cost-effective method and recommended by the commission. In past BRAC rounds, opponents say, privatization often turned out to be to be the least successful method of base closure.

Although the Levin-McCain bill was introduced as a stand-alone measure, the two senators plan to insert it as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002. It appears, however, that the House of Representatives will block further rounds of BRAC, at least for this year. If so, the BRAC process would be delayed for one round in 2005.

The consensus in the House is that it would be premature to consider BRAC legislation before completion of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's studies and the Quadrennial Defense Review later this year.

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