Jeff Bingaman: “I join Senator Lott, Senator Bunning, my colleague who just spoke, and others, in supporting the amendment to strike…”

“I join Senator Lott, Senator Bunning, my colleague who just spoke, and others, in supporting the amendment to strike section 29 of the bill. That is the provision in the bill that comes to the Senate floor to authorize the Base Realignment and Closure Commission that would be convened 2 years from now. Simply stated, I believe this is the wrong time for us to be committing our country to this course. It adds greatly to the uncertainty that already is substantial in the country. In the context of this new threat that we have all come to recognize in stark terms in recent weeks, it strikes me as inconsistent for us to agree to close more military facilities, not knowing precisely what our military needs are going to be as we move ahead. We may decide we need to resize the military and we may need to reconfigure it in a great many ways. Let me make one other point that I believe is accurate, which I have always thought got too little attention in this discussion; that is, the point that the administration has authority to realign and, in fact, even to close bases--or essentially do that--if it determines that is an appropriate course to follow.”