Mike Levin: “I, too, oppose the amendment for the reasons which were set forth by the chairman. But, in addition, I have some other…”

“I, too, oppose the amendment for the reasons which were set forth by the chairman. But, in addition, I have some other thoughts about this process. Each one of our States has gone through a tremendous period of anxiety. As it turns out, some of that anxiety was well based because they are on the list. For those States that did better than expected or better than their worst fears, it seems to me this amendment will throw them right back into that state of anxiety because by definition, this makes it more likely because of the uncertainty that is injected. And because of the delay in the final disposition, more States will be thrown right back into the position of being very nervous and anxious as to whether their bases and their facilities might be hit by a base-closing round. In other words, there is no finality. It is a totally uncertain finish, not just 2 years. We don't know when substantially all major combat units from Iraq will be withdrawn. I would be very concerned that in addition to the arguments which the Senator from Virginia made, we have many States that hired consultants, that made major presentations, that now are going to be put back into a state of limbo because they will then say: Well, we are not going to know whether we are basically off the hook for years, potentially many years.…”