[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HIDDEN ISSUE OF BASE CLOSURES

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, one item the House will not debate 
today in the Defense authorization is the hidden issue behind base 
closure: the Pentagon's inability and Congress' unwillingness to have 
the military clean up after itself.
  Incredibly, we are starting the fifth round of base closures when we 
have 17 bases and thousands of acres that remain from the 1988 round 
that have not been cleaned up. No wonder people are concerned about 
BRAC. This footdragging is bad for the environment, it is bad for local 
economies, and it gives the military a reputation for being a poor 
partner.
  Congress should no longer be missing in action in this critical area, 
and it is time for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to stop trying 
to sidestep environmental responsibility and make sure that the 
military cleans up after itself. The public demands and deserve no 
less.

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