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Home | 2004 Edition |
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From the Editor-in-Chief COLUMNS
Finance Order
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Base Closures and Missile Defense Plan Will Impact New Military Construction by Judah Lifschitz and Jonathan A. Beldon In the coming months the debate over the military budget and construction spending will be heating up in Washington. Congress will grapple with two key elements of the Bush Administrationplans for the military of the future: the closing of some military bases and the proposed missile defense plan. Both debates will have an impact on the landscape of military construction for years to come. In late June, 2001, President Bush’s Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, advocated a new round of military base closures as a cost-saving measure. The proposal is nothing new and comes six years after the previous final series of base closures that consisted of four rounds running from 1988 through 1995. After closing 97 installations during that time-frame, the military still has roughly 600 installations. The argument is simple - faced with an ever larger percentage of the military budget supporting aging or obsolete institutions, the Pentagon would prefer to shut down certain facilities and focus construction efforts on the remaining installations. "With a round of base closings and adjustments that reduced unneeded facilities, we could focus the funds on facilities we actually need," said Rumsfeld to the House Armed Services Committee. While estimates vary, experts estimate that the military has about 20 to 25 percent too many bases. General Henry H. Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, voiced his support of the Rumsfeld proposal to the House committee. Shelton stated, "by removing that excess capacity, we could potentially save an estimated $3 billion per year, which is money that could be used to fix the remaining infrastructure." The suggestion of base closures by Rumsfeld and the Pentagon are in keeping with President Bush’s vision for the U.S. military. As he addressed the graduating class at the U.S. Naval Academy, Bush stated, "I’m committed to building a future force that is defined less by size and more by mobility and swiftness, and one that is easier to deploy and sustain." Rumsfeld and the Pentagon pro-pose that an independent commission conduct a new round of base closures in 2003 (a non-election year). However, the 2003 commission would differ from previous commissions. In prior rounds of base closures, the base closing commissions were comprised of members who were chosen a portion by the President and a portion by Congress. For 2003, the Pentagon intends to submit legislation which would amend the appointment procedure. The proposed legislation would call on Congress to create a commission whose nine members would be appointed solely by the President in consultation with Congress. However, many in Congress, including a number from President Bush’s own party, are not very eager to go through another round of cantankerous base closure hearings. "I do not see a groundswell of support for base closure," stated Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.). Many legislators and constituents were left with a sour taste in their mouths after the 1995 hearings. Congressman Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) stated the sentiment of many in Congress when he publicly said, "I have serious concerns about us going through [another round], putting every community in America that has any kind of military installation into an absolute froth of anxiety."
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