Mike Levin: “we have heard basically three arguments. One is that this is the wrong time to do this, following the events of…”

“we have heard basically three arguments. One is that this is the wrong time to do this, following the events of September 11. It seems to me, the compelling answers are set forth in the letters from Secretary Rumsfeld and GEN Shelton on that issue. Secretary Rumsfeld: ``the imperative to convert excess capacity into war-fighting ability is enhanced, not diminished,'' because of those events because we need to maximize our resources--in his words--``the finite use of resources.'' And the authority to realign and close bases and facilities will be a critical element to ensure the right mix of bases and forces within our warfighting strategy. We are asking our troops to take risks. It seems to me, at a minimum, we ought to be willing now to set aside our own back-home concerns and do what is essential in order to have the efficient use of resources. We cannot afford infrastructure which is excess at any time but surely when we are asking our troops to go into combat. There is no justification for us to continue to say we are going to preserve excess infrastructure. This begins in 2003. I emphasize this because some or our colleagues have said, if you don't know the force structure, how can you know the base structure? We don't know what our force structure is going to be.…”