Bid to reduce funding for base closing initiative fails in House

House Speaker Hastert cast the deciding vote to defeat an amendment to the fiscal 2006 Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill Thursday, by a surprisingly close 214-213 margin.

The amendment would have trimmed $169 million from funding to implement the latest base realignment and closure recommendations to fund $53 million in increases to veterans' services.

With emotions running high over the latest BRAC round and lawmakers anxious to go home for Memorial Day feeling good about their commitment to veterans, the amendment by Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., drew support from 19 Republicans, almost enough to pass.

In fact, the amendment appeared to have enough momentum on several occasions, but Republican leaders held the vote open for several minutes after time had elapsed to engage in a bit of arm-twisting.

"There was a little education that needed to be done," said a GOP aide.

At least four Republicans ended up switching their votes to "no" -- Reps. Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson of Connecticut, Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Government Reform Chairman Davis -- and with Hastert entering the chamber to cast a rare vote, Melancon's spirited effort failed.

Despite having a major facility in New London, Conn., slated for closure, Simmons switched his vote because he did not want to put other areas' economic redevelopment funds in jeopardy as a result of the BRAC process, a spokesman said.

Aides to the other Republican vote-switchers could not be reached for comment by presstime.

Gingrey's district faces the closure of Naval Air Station Atlanta, but Dobbins Air Reserve Base would be expanded under the BRAC recommendations.

Meanwhile, BRAC opponents achieved a small victory with the passage of an amendment to the bill that requires the Pentagon to release all BRAC information before funds can be appropriated for base closures.

Two dozen Republican and Democratic senators sent a letter this week to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld demanding more information on his base realignment and closure recommendations, released two weeks ago.

Specifically, the senators want to see installation-specific scoring data used to determine the so-called military value of each base.

"If the department continues to delay the release of this data, communities adversely impacted by BRAC, and the BRAC commission, will be unable to assess the department's recommendations in the limited time allotted to them under BRAC law," according to the letter.

The commission must analyze Rumsfeld's recommendations and send its own list to the White House by Sept. 8.

Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said that department officials are scrubbing the documents for classified information before publicly releasing them.

"We have to cull through it, look at it very carefully," Flood said. "We're not trying to do this fast. We're trying to do this thoroughly."

Flood stressed that the Pentagon has provided justifications for its recommendations, as required under law.

A spokesman for the commission said the Pentagon continues to send over BRAC information for analysis.

Lawmakers who signed the letter include Missouri Republican Sens. Christopher (Kit) Bond and Jim Talent and South Dakota Sens. Tim Johnson, a Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican.