J.C. Watts: “on Thursday of last week, the White House threatened to veto H.R. 1119, the defense authorization bill, if it included…”

“on Thursday of last week, the White House threatened to veto H.R. 1119, the defense authorization bill, if it included language that will force the President to obey the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the BRAC law. This law mandates the closure of Kelly Air Force Base in Texas and McClellan Air Force Base in California, mandates the closure of those two facilities. Now, according to the GAO, their reports say that the continued operation of these two bases will cost us around $468 million. Now, the Air Force's very own internal report said that the continued operation of these two bases will cost us about $689 million. At the same time, the President maintains that the defense budget and the number of soldiers must be reduced in size beyond the hollow force that he is currently creating, but President Clinton offers no explanation, none, for this obvious contradiction, and he denies that he is in violation of the law. The President is wrong on both counts. Congress must vote to preserve the fairness and nonpartisanship inherent in the BRAC process that the President would destroy. The only way to preserve the fairness of the BRAC process is to vote against the Everett-Fazio amendment to H.R. 1119. I ask my colleagues to vote for fairness in the base closing process, vote to preserve our national security, and vote no on the Everett-Fazio amendment.”