Contact: Rebecca Fisher (202) 224-6244 Cell: (703) 927-9083 [email protected] http://www.ensign.senate.gov

ENSIGN CALLS FOR HEARING ON POLITICS SURROUNDING BASE CLOSURE LIST

December 16, 2009

Washington, DC – Senator John Ensign, along with 19 other Republican Senators, called on the leading members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing to investigate reports that the Obama administration threatened to put Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on a future Base Realignment and Closure list. Senator Ensign is concerned that Nellis AFB, Fallon NAS, Creech AFB, or Hawthorne Army Depot could possibly make future lists based on political decisions or a member’s voting record rather than military utility.

Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC), (R-SD), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Lamar Alexander (R- TN), (R-NC), Bob Corker (R-TN), Kit Bond (R-MO), George LeMieux (R-FL), Pat Roberts (R-KS), David Vitter (R-LA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), (R-TX), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) also signed the letter.

The text of the letter is below and attached:

Dear Senator Levin and Senator McCain:

It has been reported that the Obama Administration threatened the closure of a U.S. military installation for political purposes, thereby bringing into question the integrity of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. The BRAC process was established to remove political influence so that the decision to close or not to close a military installation could be based upon military utility.

Specifically, various media reports have stated that the Obama Administration would put Offutt AFB in southeastern Nebraska on a future BRAC list because of a vote on healthcare reform. While we recognize the importance of Offutt AFB as the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command and the approximately 10,000 individuals that work there, we feel that this installation should remain open or be closed on its own merits.

Therefore, we respectfully ask that a hearing be held as to whether the BRAC process has been compromised. We do not want to see the name of a base from our state on a BRAC list and think it has been put there to settle partisan scores. We also do not want our bases to be more vulnerable to closure because political arm-twisting has taken another installation off the table. National security not partisanship should determine how BRAC decisions are made.

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