Tony Thurmond: “I rise to support the Dorgan-Daschle amendment. I think that is the logical step to take at this time. I wish to commend…”

“I rise to support the Dorgan-Daschle amendment. I think that is the logical step to take at this time. I wish to commend the majority leader, Senator Lott, the assistant majority leader, Senator Nickles, for their excellent talks that they made on this subject. I wish to commend all others who took that position or the opposite position for participating in this debate. This is a very important subject. I am very pleased that so many Senators have taken part in this debate, which is very helpful to our country. Mr. President, I am not going to make a long talk. We have had a lot of talk the other day. I expect to speak less than 5 minutes. Mr. President, in my judgment, and that of many of my colleagues, the Secretary of Defense has not made a sufficient case for additional base closures. The one point that has been a common theme throughout the debate on additional base closures rounds has been the extent of actual overcapacity in the existing infrastructure. I am not satisfied that we have accurate data on this matter and should not vote for any additional rounds until we have an independent assessment of the overcapacity. As a second concern is that I believe that the desire for supposed savings is becoming the sole driving force for additional base closure, without consideration of continuing requirements.”