The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee announced on Thursday that he will reintroduce a bill that would allow the Pentagon to close and realign military bases.
The Military Infrastructure Consolidation and Efficiency Act from Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., would give the Pentagon the authority to conduct another round of base realignment and closure, known as BRAC, in 2019.
“We should not be wasting hard-earned taxpayer money to maintain excess infrastructure that DOD has determined it does not need,” Smith said in a statement. “It is time to do what’s right for defense and move forward with this process.”
The Pentagon, which has estimated it has about 20 percent excess infrastructure, requested $4 million in its fiscal 2017 budget submission to begin preparing for another BRAC in 2019, but was not provided the money.
The last round of base closures in 2005 did not yield savings as fast as some hoped and were seen as a disaster by many on Capitol Hill. Smith’s bill includes some reforms to prevent similar problems from happening again, such as increasing congressional oversight and strengthening the independence of the commission that recommends base closures.
Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this week that he and the Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., want to talk to Defense Secretary James Mattis about the possibility of another BRAC.
“We need to talk about it, I think it has to be considered as all things should be on the table,” McCain said.
