May 16: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will submit his recommendations for closures to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and Congress.
Sept. 8: The commission will make its own closure recommendations.
Sept. 23: President Bush will decide whether to accept or reject the commission’s recommendations in their entirety. If Bush accepts the plan, it will become final within 45 legislative days, unless Congress passes a joint resolution to block the entire package.
Oct. 20: If Bush rejects the BRAC recommendations, the commission has until this date to submit a revised list of proposed closures.
Nov. 7: Deadline for the president to approve or disapprove the revised recommendations.
Nominees to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission
Chairman, former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi of California
Former Rep. James H. Bilbray of Nevada
Philip Coyle of California
Retired Navy Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. of Virginia
Former Rep. James V. Hansen of Utah
Retired Army Gen. James T. Hill of Florida
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Claude M. Kicklighter of Georgia
Former White House Chief of Staff Samuel Knox Skinner of Illinois
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner of Texas
Northeast on outside looking in
Base closure panel has no members from New England
Maine officials say they’re disappointed
President Bush disappointed Maine’s congressional delegation Tuesday with his decision to appoint no one from the Northeast to the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the group that will decide which military bases will survive.
It’s what Maine’s lawmakers feared most.
“I am profoundly disappointed that President Bush did not ensure a regionally balanced commission by naming a nominee from New England,” Sen. Olympia Snowe said Tuesday, calling the appointments “disturbing.”
The decisions by Bush, and by leadership in the House and Senate, have drawn scrutiny from members of Congress from throughout New England, which lost about half of its bases during the four previous closure rounds.
In February, members of the Maine and New Hampshire delegations proposed the nominations of former Maine Rep. David Emery and retired Marine Corps Gen. Robert Winglass of Auburn to the commission.
On Tuesday, Bush gave his answer, officially appointing four Southerners, four Westerners and a Midwesterner to the commission.
The worry is that members of the commission will not be familiar enough with the area’s bases – Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Brunswick Naval Air Station – to give them a fair appraisal.
There are other concerns, said U.S. Rep Tom Allen, D-Maine.
Most of the nominees come from Republican strongholds. And, of the nine appointees, five have ties to the Army. Both of Maine’s bases are Navy-related.
“I realize that military people serve all over the country,” Allen said Tuesday. Still, no one knows the region like someone who has lived here.
“It would have made a fairer commission,” Allen said.
By law, six nominees had to come from congressional leaders: two from the speaker of the House, two from the Senate majority leader, one from the House minority leader and one from the Senate minority leader.
The remaining three nominees, including the chairman, came from the president.
In a prepared statement, Snowe said the decision “compromises fairness and balance” in the closure process, something that she and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have opposed for years.
“I have believed from the beginning that the decision to allow BRAC to proceed was unwise, considering current deployments and the tremendous demands on our military at this time,” Snowe said.
As many as 100 of the military’s 400 bases could close. Led by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the move is aimed at cutting billions of dollars in Pentagon spending.
The president has nominated his former Veterans Affairs secretary, Anthony Principi, to lead the commission.
Before leaving the VA, Principi worked to close hospitals and shrink others. His appointment was applauded by Senator Collins.
“Having worked with him in the past, I am confident he will strive to lead a fair and inclusive process that ultimately best meets our nation’s security requirements,” Collins said in a prepared statement.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.