John Thune: “this amendment to S. 1042 that would delay implementation of the 2005 round of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment.…”

“this amendment to S. 1042 that would delay implementation of the 2005 round of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment. This amendment does not seek to nullify the Department of Defense recommendations, nor does it seek to halt the work of the BRAC Commission now well underway. Nor do I seek to block the presentation of the BRAC Commission's final recommendations to the President. To the contrary, I believe the BRAC commission to be an integral and indispensable check on this process and I value their analysis and demonstrated independence. The amendment would essentially extend the congressional review period for any final recommendations approved by the President until certain conditions are first met. This proposed suspension of the ``45 day'' review period would thus delay ``implementation'' by the Department of Defense until one year following the last condition is met. These conditions center on certain events that are anticipated to occur and which have potentially large or unforeseen implications for our military force structure. Therefore, implementation of any final BRAC recommendations should not occur until both the DoD and Congress have had a chance to fully study the effects such events will have on our basing requirements. I will say more about those conditions in a moment. But first, I want to make my position perfectly clear. I do not oppose the BRAC process.…”