Sub Base Support Grows In Congress

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Subject: Sub Base Support Grows In Congress

 
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Sub Base Support Grows In Congress

Heavyweights in key positions question Navy's decision to put Groton on list


By ROBERT A. HAMILTON
Day Staff Writer,
Navy/Defense/Electric Boat
23 July 2005


Groton — Four members of Congress in key defense positions, including two who until now have been silent on the Pentagon recommendation to close the Naval Submarine Base, signed a letter to the base closure commission Friday urging that the base be dropped from the list.

“We are seriously concerned that the Department of the Navy used unacceptable assumptions about the future nuclear attack submarine force to justify its Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendation,” they wrote.

“A decision to close (the Groton base) would lock the Navy into an artificially low force level and damage the national security of the United States.” The newest base supporters are House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla.

They were joined by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., who had written a previous letter to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission defending the Groton base.

“Those four members of Congress chair the most important committees for defense,” said Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District.  “Their combined service totals almost 100 years in the Congress. ... It's a powerful argument from four very important members of Congress.”

Simmons said their letter is likely to have considerable influence with the commission because they were among the authors of the legislation authorizing the 2005 BRAC, so they know the intent of Congress, and also because they have no personal stake in the outcome.

In fact, Simmons noted, Hunter, Lewis and Young all have bases in their own districts that are on the Pentagon's closure list.

“The fact that they are expressing doubt over the recommendation to close Sub Base New London (as the Navy designates the base) is very unusual,” Simmons said. “Their argument does not reflect a local issue — their argument reflects a national security issue.”

In a related matter, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., spoke out Friday in favor of an amendment to the 2006 defense authorization bill that would delay the current round of base closures until troops return from military operations in Iraq and a major defense review now under way is completed.

“The news from London reminds us in the most stark and stunning ways that we are at war,” Lieberman said. “In the midst of such a war, it seems the reduction of these base structures has to be done with real care, because we may look back and say this rush to judgment has been a dash to disaster.”

“Let's just step back a bit and get the facts we need before we make these final judgments,” Lieberman said.

“If you close a base like Submarine Base New London, you'll never be able to open it again.” The Bush administration, however, said in a statement that it would “strongly oppose any amendment to weaken, delay or repeal” the base-closing process, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he would recommend the president veto any bill that includes such a provision.•••

Simmons said the entire Connecticut delegation has been working to build support for the Groton base, and that Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-5th District, in particular, was important in bringing Lewis and Young into the fray

“We hope to have some more letters and endorsements next week,” Simmons said. “We're not stopping.” Johnson said the base “is absolutely essential to our current and future national security needs,” so she was grateful for the support.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell said the effort to save the base was significantly bolstered by the news this week that the Navy developed a submarine force structure plan based on assumptions that are either impractical or impossible, such as basing up to nine submarines in Guam, which is at capacity now with three, and using alternating crews on attack submarines, which has been dismissed as unworkable in several previous reviews.

“There is growing concern about the submarine force levels the Defense Department used in deciding to close the Groton sub base,” Rell said. “The questions raised by these key members of Congress hone in on the very same issues raised by current and former senior military officials.

They all point to a fundamental problem: There is real — and serious — uncertainty about the number of submarines our country will need in the future.

Now is not the time to foreclose debate on that question by closing America's premier submarine base.” Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., called the letter from the four congressional leaders “a significant development.”

“Each of these key congressional leaders understands that the Pentagon has put the cart before the horse in trying to close Sub Base New London,” Dodd said. “They know that doing so would put the Navy in a virtual straightjacket by leaving no other option but to downsize our submarine force.

There's growing agreement from a number of impartial military and congressional sources that closing Sub Base New London unnecessarily puts our national security at risk while offering no substantial monetary savings.”

“This letter reinforces our point that there is no consensus in Congress to reduce our submarine force in the face of the growing threat from submarines in the hands of nations that could someday be an adversary to America,” Lieberman said.

“We must have a proper debate about what our requirement is, and we must have the ability to build, base, operate and maintain those submarines. New London is absolutely essential to fill that need.” 

Related Articles
 »   Another BRAC Commissioner, Maybe Two, To Pay Visit To Groton
 »   Lawmakers Meet With Key BRAC Commissioners
 »   BRAC Adds Bases To Possible Closure List
 »   Officials Have Doubts About Plan To Close Groton Base
 »   Navy Says San Diego Sub Base Spared ‘For Strategic Reasons'
 »   Evidence Against BRAC Decision Mounts
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)