Mike Levin: “Mr. President, here we go again. We have now been through this on several occasions in the past. These are tough…”

“Mr. President, here we go again. We have now been through this on several occasions in the past. These are tough decisions. I think people realize this could have significant impact on the economies of their States, and of their districts in the case of Members of the House. But I think we need to again remind people that we are in a situation where the defense spending increases and our requirements to fight the war on terror in general and increased costs of the war in Iraq absolutely mandate that we do everything we can to institute savings for the American taxpayers as far as the expenditure of their tax dollars are concerned. I don't in any way dispute the fact that when a base is closed it has a very significant and sometimes short-term devastating impact on a State or locality in which that base is located.”