May 25, 2013
CASTRO, BIPARTISAN HOUSE GROUP CALL FOR PROTECTION OF MILITARY COMMUNITIES IN TEXAS AND ACROSS USA
San Antonio, TX – Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro [TX-20] is leading a coalition of 27 Republican and Democratic Congressmen to urge the Pentagon to assess military infrastructure abroad before calling for painful cuts in military communities at home. In a letter (attached and below) to Defense Secretary Hagel sent today, the bipartisan coalition—made up of 14 Texas representatives and 10 House Armed Services Committee members—is pressing the Pentagon for information on the hundreds of military bases and installations abroad in order to have a more complete picture of the nation’s investments, as well as future basing requirements as the nation winds down from war.
“Like San Antonio, many cities across Texas and our nation thrive because of the military families that invest in them. As a representative of San Antonio, Military City USA, I believe we owe it to these families to be proactive and identify excess capacity at our overseas bases before we are asked to consider another round of painful cuts back home,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro [TX-20]. “I am committed to being a strong ally and tireless advocate for our military communities, and I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and across the country to make this issue a priority.”
The letter to Secretary Hagel calling for a more and transparent complete picture of our military capabilities abroad is a first step in securing our military readiness at home, ensuring the nation’s military families are protected, and reining in wasteful spending.
Background
Texas is home to 15 major military installations and to 148,000 active duty personnel.
The budget submitted for Fiscal Year 2014 by the Pentagon calls for a base realignment and closure (BRAC) round in 2015. BRAC rounds have occurred in 2005, 1995, 1993, 1991, and 1988. The latest BRAC round resulted in 24 major closings nationwide. In Texas, the 2005 commission closed 16 facilities. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO), the 2005 BRAC round cost more than $35 billion, $14 billion more than initial estimates. In the same report the GAO also estimated that the 2005 BRAC rounds amounted to less than a third of the projected one-time savings.
Co-signers: Gallego* (TX-23), Veasey* (TX-33), Barber* (AZ-2), Brady* (Robert) (PA-1), Brownley (CA-26), Cartwright (PA-17), Cicilline (RI-1), Cuellar (TX-28), Doggett (TX-35), Enyart* (IL-12), Green (Al) (TX-9), Green (Gene) (TX-29), Hall (TX-4), Hinojosa (TX-15), Jones* (NC-3), Kilmer* (WA-6), Lujan-Grisham (NM-1), Maffei* (NY-24), O’Rourke (TX-16), Rigell* (VA-2), Smith (Lamar) (TX-21), Stockman (TX-36), Titus (NV-1), Vargas (CA-51), Vela (TX-34), Weber (TX-14)
*Denotes a member of the House Armed Services Committee
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May 24, 2013
The Honorable Chuck Hagel
Secretary
U.S. Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear Mr. Secretary:
We write in regard to the Department of Defense’s request for Congress to authorize an additional Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round. While we understand the desire to identify excess infrastructure capacity at our military installations in order to generate system-wide efficiencies, we believe the Department of Defense should first look to eliminate excess infrastructure capacity overseas before considering the closure of any facilities within the United States.
As we draw down from the war in Afghanistan, shift our strategic focus to the Pacific, and reduce active-duty personnel and equipment across the services, we believe it is prudent for the Department of Defense to reevaluate its current overseas basing structure to ensure we can maintain our operational requirements and strategic commitments abroad while also reducing costs in this budget environment. We understand the Pentagon has already ordered an assessment of our European infrastructure and we look forward to reviewing the results of those recommendations. With this information, Congress will be able to make more informed decisions regarding the necessity of additional base closures and realignments here at home.
Until the Department of Defense can provide Congress with a comprehensive plan for reducing excess capacity from overseas military installations, we will continue to have concerns with the Department of Defense’s request for an additional BRAC round.
The military installations in our states have a profound impact on the families in our communities. We owe it to them to make sure we have realized all possible cost savings abroad before we consider another round of BRAC back home.
Sincerely,
JOAQUIN CASTRO
PETE GALLEGO
MARC VEASEY
RON BARBER
ROBERT BRADY
JULIA BROWNLEY
MATT CARTWRIGHT
DAVID CICILLINE
HENRY CUELLAR
LLOYD DOGGETT
WILLIAM ENYART
Al GREEN
GENE GREEN
RALPH HALL
RUBEN HINOJOSA
WALTER JONES
DEREK KILMER
MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM
DAN MAFFEI
BETO O’ROURKE
SCOTT RIGELL
LAMAR SMITH
STEVE STOCKMAN
DINA TITUS
JUAN VARGAS
FILEMON VELA
RANDY WEBER
Members of Congress
Cc: The Honorable John Boehner, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Buck McKeon, Chairman, House Armed Services Committee
The Honorable Adam Smith, Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
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