Political Quotes

“I am convinced that Secretary of Defense William Perry's recommendation to the Base Realignment and Closure [BRAC] Commission to close Fort McClellan, AL, is a mistake with significant and dangerous ramifications. With this recommendation, the Pentagon jeopardizes the American soldier's ability to survive chemical warfare, breaks faith with hundreds of thousands of Alabamians at risk from their neighboring stockpile of aging chemical weapons, and seriously undermines the Chemical Weapons Convention and Bilateral Destruction Agreement. Let me be specific about what's wrong with the proposed closure of Fort McClellan: First, it contradicts two earlier directives of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission refusing closure efforts of 1991 and 1993. The BRAC Commission has ruled twice--and the President and Congress concurred--that the chemical defense mission performed at Fort McClellan is vital to our national defense and that the Army's recommendation violates the criteria of military value established by law.”