BRAC News Conference

NGAUS, AGAUS and EANGUS made their voices heard loud and clear yesterday at a Senate press conference requested by NGAUS and sponsored by Sen. John Thune, (R-SD). 

The conference, held outside the Capitol, was attended by seven senators and  five members of the House of Representatives.  The conference was held to show support for legislation introduced in the Senate by John Thune and in the House by Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-SD). The bills call for delaying BRAC until the completion of several ongoing strategic military studies—including the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review—and the return of major U.S. combat units from Iraq.

Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, AGAUS vice president and TAG Delaware, reminded dozens of reporters assembled across the street from the Capitol that Guard leaders across the country had no involvement in the Air Force input that generated the Pentagon's BRAC recommendations.

Lawmakers are also concerned about the Defense Department's refusal to release all pertinent data concerning the BRAC. Sen. Snowe (R-ME) and Rep. Tubbs Jones (D-OH) both introduced pieces of legislation which would force the Administration to release the data. NGAUS President, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Stephen Koper, spoke to this saying, "We are frustrated and disappointed that DoD has still not provided significant amounts of supporting data to the BRAC Commission, the Congress, and in turn to the American public for use in assessing and rebutting their recommendations.”

The following members of congress participated in the news conference:

Sen. Thune (R-SD),  Sen Lieberman (D-CT), Sen. Snowe (R-ME), Sen. Johnson (D-SD), Sen. Baucus (D-MT), Sen. Corzine (D-NJ),  and Sen. Lott (R-MS), Rep. Herseth (D-SD), Rep. Pallone (D-NJ), Rep. Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Rep. Allen (D-ME) and Rep. Michaud (D-ME), 

For more about the press conference, go to:  www.ngaus.org