[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 132 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 132

   Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Department of Defense 
request for domestic Base Realignment and Closure authority in 2015 and 
2017 is neither affordable nor feasible as of the date of agreement to 
this resolution and that the Department of Defense must further analyze 
   the capability to consolidate excess overseas infrastructure and 
increase efficiencies by relocating missions from overseas to domestic 
installations prior to requesting domestic Base Realignment and Closure 
                               authority.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 8, 2013

  Mr. Begich (for himself, Mr. Tester, and Mr. Baucus) submitted the 
  following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Department of Defense 
request for domestic Base Realignment and Closure authority in 2015 and 
2017 is neither affordable nor feasible as of the date of agreement to 
this resolution and that the Department of Defense must further analyze 
   the capability to consolidate excess overseas infrastructure and 
increase efficiencies by relocating missions from overseas to domestic 
installations prior to requesting domestic Base Realignment and Closure 
                               authority.

Whereas the Department of Defense claims a 24-percent surplus in domestic 
        military infrastructure and has requested domestic Base Realignment and 
        Closure (BRAC) rounds in 2015 and 2017;
Whereas Congress rejected a request for 2 BRAC rounds made by the Department of 
        Defense in fiscal year 2013;
Whereas the Senate Armed Services Committee noted in title XXIV of Senate Report 
        112-173 to accompany S. 3254 of the 112th Congress, that a request by 
        the Department of Defense for authority to conduct a domestic BRAC round 
        must be preceded by a comprehensive evaluation of opportunities to 
        obtain efficiencies through the consolidation of the overseas operations 
        of defense agencies and possible relocation back to the United States;
Whereas the Base Structure Report for fiscal year 2012 of the Office of the 
        Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Installations and Environment, found 
        that the Department of Defense has 666 military sites in foreign 
        countries, including 232 in Germany, 109 in Japan, and 85 in South 
        Korea;
Whereas the United States has developed an increased capacity to rapidly deploy 
        around the globe, thereby reducing the strategic value of an overseas 
        footprint based largely on Cold War geopolitics and an obsolete National 
        Security Strategy;
Whereas the Government Accountability Office concluded in a 2007 study that the 
        2005 BRAC round was the most complex and costliest ever;
Whereas the Government Accountability Office found in a 2012 report entitled 
        ``Military Base Realignments and Closures: Updated Costs and Savings 
        Estimates from BRAC 2005'' that the 2005 BRAC round far exceeded 
        estimated implementation costs, growing from $21,000,000,000 to 
        $35,100,000,000, a 67-percent increase;
Whereas the Government Accountability Office found in the 2012 report that the 
        estimated 20-year savings for the 2005 BRAC round decreased by 72 
        percent from $35,600,000,000 to $9,900,000,000;
Whereas the Government Accountability Office estimates that it will take until 
        2017 for the Department of Defense to recoup upfront implementation 
        costs of BRAC 2005, 4 years longer than the BRAC Commission estimates 
        and 12 years after the date of execution and initial investment;
Whereas the Department of Defense would spend $2,400,000,000 in a time of fiscal 
        austerity to execute the proposed BRAC round in 2015;
Whereas the financial crisis in the United States continues to challenge local 
        economies and a BRAC round would create more uncertainty and economic 
        hardship for impacted communities still in the recovery process;
Whereas Federal budget uncertainty and the fiscal challenges a domestic BRAC 
        round would bring to communities renders the significant $2,400,000,000 
        in up-front costs neither affordable nor feasible as of the date of 
        agreement to this resolution; and
Whereas the lack of potential return on the significant investment required for 
        a BRAC round may result in an inefficient use of taxpayer funds: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) as of the date of agreement to this resolution, the 
        Department of Defense should not be granted authority for the 
        requested 2015 and 2017 Base Realignment and Closure rounds;
            (2) before granting the authority for the requested 2015 
        and 2017 BRAC rounds, the Department of Defense should achieve 
        economic efficiencies by--
                    (A) closing and consolidating excess infrastructure 
                and facilities in overseas locations; and
                    (B) reexamining relocation opportunities of 
                overseas missions to United States military 
                installations; and
            (3) the Department of Defense is unwise to request a BRAC 
        round when the economy of the United States is struggling to 
        recover and negatively impacted communities are fighting to put 
        citizens back to work.
                                 <all>