Rhode Island leaders are celebrating the military Base Closure and Realignment Commission’s vote today to save the Naval Submarine Base New London, which the Defense Department had recommended for closure as part of a major consolidation plan.
The BRAC panel also endorsed the Pentagon’s plan for the Ocean State, which includes realigning but keeping the Newport Naval Base and adding a total of 500 jobs there and at the Quonset Point Air National Guard facility.
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The threat to the Groton, Conn., base, however, which provides more than 8,000 jobs and pumps billions of dollars into the area’s economy – through major employer Electric Boat, among others – had mobilized Rhode Island officials in support of their Connecticut peers.
U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, testified as part of the Connecticut panel at a hearing in July. After today’s vote, he issued a statement saying he was “very pleased” by the outcome.
“Many Naval facilities and private institutions in Rhode Island work closely with Sub Base New London to provide the Navy with unparalleled capabilities in undersea warfare,” Reed said. “I believe the commission understood the argument I made with my colleagues that this relationship simply cannot be replicated. The base is an integral part of a community of naval, academic, and industrial facilities that ensure the United States maintains the finest submarine force in the world. This community has taken decades to create, and I believe the commission was right in recognizing its success.”
U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee, who also testified on Connecticut’s behalf, issued his own statement saying the BRAC vote would have “a very a positive impact on the jobs and industry in Rhode Island as well as the rest of New England.”
Other states weren’t so fortunate. The panel voted to endorse recommendations to close the U.S. Army’s Fort Gillem and Fort McPherson in Georgia, Fort Monroe in Virginia, Army Garrison Selfridge in Michigan and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, for example, and it agreed to close nearly 400 Army Reserve and National Guard facilities and create joint new centers.
The BRAC proceedings continue until Saturday. According to a news release by U.S. Rep. James Langevin, the panel has until Sept. 8 to submit its final recommendations to President Bush, who can either accepts the list or send it back with proposed changes. After a second review, the BRAC panel has until Oct. 20 to resubmit its recommendations, and the President will then pass on the list to Congress, which must vote to approve or deny the entire list within 45 days.
