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THUNE, SNOWE DEMAND DOD RELEASE DOCUMENTATION SURROUNDING BRAC DECISIONS

Senators Introduce Bill to Shut Down BRAC if DoD does not Comply

May 25, 2005

Washington, D.C. —  In response to the continuing refusal by the Department of Defense (DoD) to release all certified data and documentation related to its recent BRAC recommendations, Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) today introduced legislation that would shut down the current BRAC round if DoD does not make this information available.

“In this country, we simply do not allow our government to make decisions in the dark that profoundly impact so many citizens’ lives,” said Snowe. “We cannot allow the Department of Defense to continue to withhold the data, methodology, and assumptions it used to arrive at its BRAC recommendations. DoD has not even provided this information to the BRAC Commissioners, who are charged with reviewing the recommendations. This is an issue of basic fairness and transparency – we call on DoD to live up to its responsibilities and shed light on its BRAC decision-making process.”

“Too much is at stake for the Defense Department to withhold valuable information,” said Thune. “Communities cannot adequately defend their bases without knowing how or why the Pentagon made its recommendations. The Department of Defense has a responsibility to shed light on the data, methodology, and assumptions it used. The BRAC process cannot move forward if the Pentagon fails to meet its basic responsibility to share information.”

The Snowe-Thune bill would require that DoD provide to Congress all of its documentation related to the 2005 BRAC round within 7 days of enactment of the legislation. This documentation includes:

  • certified data collected during data calls (requests for information sent to all military installations by the Pentagon prior to making its BRAC recommendations) and
  • all documentation related to DoD's application of military value criteria and other criteria to installations recommended for closure or realignment and potential receiving installations.

This legislation provides that, should DoD not comply with this request within 7 days, the current BRAC round would be terminated.

Furthermore, should DoD comply, all deadlines for reporting by the BRAC Commission would be extended by the same number of days after May 16 (the original reporting date) that it took for DoD to provide information to the Commission. The BRAC Commission is hampered in carrying out its duties by a lack of information, but it continues to operate under a tight timeline established by the original legislation.