AUGUSTA – The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has scheduled a public hearing Saturday to allow the Department of Defense to present additional arguments to support its base closing proposals, a move prompting concerns by members of the state’s congressional delegation and Gov. John Baldacci.
“This means they (Defense Department officials) get another bite of the apple,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said. “I am concerned about what they may bring up just before the commission starts deliberations.”
The BRAC Commission is scheduled to begin deliberations next Wednesday and complete its voting on recommendations by Saturday, Aug. 27.
Snowe said the timing of the hearings, just days before the commission starts to take votes, is a concern because there will be little time to thoroughly assess any additional facts or arguments made by the Defense Department.
“We have to be ready with the rest of the story, so to speak,” Baldacci said. “Since the beginning, the DOD case has been half-baked.”
Baldacci said the state and the delegation have to be alert to any “curveballs” the Defense Department may throw at Saturday’s session. He said that if anything new is presented, he believes the commission owes it to the state to give it the opportunity to respond.
“We need to make sure we can do that,” he said. “This is a process and we should have the opportunity to respond.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, shares the concern of Baldacci and Snowe. But, she is confident the delegation and the state will be able to respond in some fashion to any additional arguments made by the Defense Department.
“Even if it is informal, from staff to staff, I think we will have the opportunity to make any additional information available to the commission that we want to present,” she said.
Collins added that the additional hearing could prove beneficial to the state’s case on all of the bases.
“The more questions that they ask about the Brunswick Naval Air Station and the Pentagon’s illogical realignment plan, the better as far as I am concerned,” she said.
Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said with the Saturday afternoon hearing focusing on the Jacksonville Naval Air Station and its proposed realignment, there may be the opportunity to push a realignment that benefits BNAS.
“It would make way more sense to move squadrons from Jacksonville to Brunswick, “she said. “Brunswick has the capacity now to handle the new maritime patrol aircraft, Jacksonville does not.”
In announcing the Saturday hearing, BRAC Commission Chairman Anthony Principi said the hearing was added to give the Defense Department the opportunity to present the panel information it can use in making its recommendations the following week.
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