LaHood Introduces Resolution to Reject BRAC Recommendations; Condemns moving or eliminating guardsmen jobs as "wrong!"          

[SEPT. 21, 2005]  WASHINGTON-Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL 18) today introduced legislation which would disapprove the recommendations of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). President Bush forwarded those recommendations to Congress last Thursday. According to federal law, the U.S. House and Senate have 45 days from last Thursday to act on these recommendations. Congressman LaHood has voiced his opposition to this round of BRAC and is hopeful that a majority of Members will join him in voting against the BRAC recommendations.

"As I have said before, I believe it is wrong that we are closing and realigning bases while we are at war," said LaHood. "The especially egregious way in which Air National Guard units were treated under this round of BRAC only serves to underscore the problems with this system. Air Guard units--such as the 183rd Fighter Wing in my own district--under the purview of a state's governor, were closed or moved without consent. That is just plain wrong. We ask our National Guardsmen to do amazing things, from fighting for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, to helping rescue victims of Hurricane Katrina, and now the government wants to move their job to another state or even eliminate them altogether. That is wrong, wrong, wrong!"

The procedure for acting on the base closing list is outlined with strict detail in the federal law which governs the BRAC process. From the date which the list is forwarded by the President, Congress has 45 days to vote on a resolution of disapproval. This resolution calls for a vote on the entire package of closings and realignments without amendment. If this resolution is approved by both the House and Senate, the BRAC list would be rejected in whole. If the resolution of disapproval is not voted upon, or if the resolution fails, the BRAC list then becomes law.

[News release]