Posted on: Saturday, August 4, 2001

Congress must help Pentagon close bases

It's about this simple:

• The Pentagon wants to cut the size and excess capacity of the U.S. military so it can apply the savings to the jobs it must do in the 21st century.

• Congress won't allow it.

Since the last round of base closings was accomplished under President Clinton, the idea of appointing another commission to name the installations to be closed is anathema in Congress. Rep. Neil Abercrombie says the Pentagon, because it knows what it has and what it needs, is best suited to identify the least needed facilities.

But how can the Pentagon proceed?

A majority of the members on the House Armed Services Committee signed a warning to the Pentagon yesterday against trying to cut the size of the Army. It is known that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is considering eliminating two of the Army's 10 active-duty divisions.

Two weeks ago, the same committee approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill blocking the Pentagon's plan to cut the number of B-1 bombers and move the remainder from bases in Georgia and Kansas.

The committee also approved a provision that would require the Navy to find another live-fire training range before it gives up bombing on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques — no matter what President Bush has promised.

Earlier this year, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., nearly had a Pentagon general's head on a platter for suggesting that some base closings might occur in the Southeast.

The Pentagon clearly needs to thin out its excess infrastructure, and find ways to get leaner and meaner. One reason is that the Bush administration, following its magnanimous tax cut, can't afford to maintain the military it has.

But this problem is much older than the Bush administration; the last round of closings under President Clinton, although successful, was not as thorough as the Pentagon hoped for. It says it has 20 to 25 percent more base capacity than it needs.

It is clear that no congressional representative can tolerate the closing of a base in his or her district on his or her watch. The commission process made Congress vote yes or no on the entire package of base closings, so it worked. This is urgent business; there's a need for statesmanship here.