Frank Pallone: “let me say that I very much support the Bradley amendment. At a time when American troops are dying on a daily basis in…”

“let me say that I very much support the Bradley amendment. At a time when American troops are dying on a daily basis in Iraq, we simply cannot afford to disrupt the military framework that our soldiers rely on every day to help them in their mission and to keep them alive. I want to say last week I listened to the BRAC hearings and I saw the commissioners ask many questions related to the fact that our military are now in combat. The Pentagon could not answer many of the more important questions that were asked by the BRAC commissioners. This was not the case in previous BRAC rounds. I have been here since 1988, and I have now been through three or four BRAC rounds. The fact of the matter is there were many unanswered questions regarding the future of our military, and it is simply not the right time to be shutting down military facilities here at home. If you listened to the BRAC last week and you listened to the questions, you could see why in fact the Bradley amendment makes sense. I want to mention one thing about my base, Fort Monmouth, that was mentioned already by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).…”