McCain, Levin to press for base closings on Senate floor

Proposals to create another round or two of military base closings and to ease the Pentagon's "Buy American" rule will be brought to the Senate floor after being turned down by the Senate Armed Services Committee, backers of the proposal said Friday.

Armed Services ranking member Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he and Armed Services member John McCain, R-Ariz., the leading advocates for establishing another base closing round, will argue their case before the entire Senate.

Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., said his committee could not work out acceptable wording because of concerns that the Clinton administration might play politics with the issue. Although another base closing commission might not meet until after President Clinton leaves office, some members worried about his staff doing some of the preparation.

"You can't legislate trust," Warner said.

Levin speculated his and McCain's original proposal for two rounds and their fallback position for one round failed because members feared they would lose a base. Levin said the issue would have a slightly better chance before the full Senate.

A McCain staffer said no decision has been made yet to bring up either the base reduction proposal or "Buy American" changes on the floor, but they are being given "serious consideration."

McCain wants to give Defense Secretary William Cohen authority to waive the current requirement that the department buy only products made in the United States.

Under the plan, eight different conditions would have to be met before a waiver could be given, and only products made in a NATO country could be purchased. The act would not apply to setasides for disadvantaged or minority businesses under the Small Business Act, the staffer said.