Pallone, Holt, Corzine say they’ll vote against list approved by Bush
BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO Rep. Frank Pallone, Sen. Jon Corzine and Rep. Rush Holt at a press conference earlier this year on the BRAC Commission announcement on closing Fort Monmouth. Area legislators who have led the battle to spare Fort Monmouth from the Pentagon’s cost-cutting ax have pledged to vote against allowing the Defense Department document that lists that local U.S. Army base and 21 other installations for shutdown, from becoming the law of the land.
The federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list of military installations targeted for shutdown or restructuring by the Pentagon is now on its way to Congress, having been approved in its entirety by President George W. Bush last Thursday.
Now that Bush has signed off on the Pentagon’s list, which also was green-lighted by the federal BRAC Commission on Aug. 24, Congress is charged with reviewing it and voting to either approve or reject it in an up-or-down decision within 45 working days.
Neither of the two local congressmen who chair the Save Our Fort Committee, a local advocacy group of political, community, educational and business leaders whose mission is to keep Fort Monmouth operating at full capacity, had expected any different action from Bush, who received the BRAC list from the Pentagon on Sept. 8.
“While I’m disappointed by the president’s decision, I’m certainly not surprised,” U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6) said in a prepared statement. “I will adamantly oppose the final BRAC report when it comes before Congress in the next 45 days.”
Pallone’s colleague, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12), expressed no shock either.
“The President did what he said he’d do — he approved the whole report without any changes at all,” Holt said in a prepared statement.
Still, both congressmen are clinging to the caveat imposed on U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld by the BRAC Commissioners when they authorized the Pentagon’s proposal to close Fort Monmouth — that the base spread between Eatontown, Tinton Falls, and Oceanport not be closed until all of its missions and facilities are duplicated at the Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground, the installation expected to absorb the bulk of its operations.
Pallone, Holt and other Save Our Fort Committee members have predicted that re-creating the laboratory buildings, equipment and workforce now existing at Fort Monmouth at the 7,000-acre Maryland base will result in the Pentagon spending more time and money than originally estimated.
The Pentagon’s game plan calls for Fort Monmouth to be completely relocated to Aberdeen within two to six years.
“I will continue to explore options to prevent the Pentagon from closing Fort Monmouth, and will work to ensure the proper Congressional oversight, required by the BRAC Commission specifically in regard to the Fort, actually takes place,” Pallone said.
Though the two legislators, joined by U.S. Sens. Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, have already unsuccessfully taken legal action in federal court and subsequently the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to head off the Pentagon’s closing of the fort from going forward, Holt indicated that “future legal options might be considered.”
“If and when these recommendations become law, we’re going to make sure Congress holds the Pentagon’s feet to the fire on meeting the conditions imposed by the BRAC Commission before Fort Monmouth is closed,” Holt said.
Corzine, New Jersey’s Democratic candidate in this fall’s governor’s race, will reject the whole list when it comes before Congress, due to the inclusion of Fort Monmouth, according to David Wald, his spokesman.
“Closing Fort Monmouth is a disservice to our state, our nation, and most importantly, the men and women in combat who depend on the critical services and technology the base provides. This is a very bad decision,” Corzine said in a statement released by Wald.
Bush’s fast-tracking of the BRAC list to Congress was not an unexpected move to Frank Muzzi, co-chair of The Patriots’ Alliance, another fort advocacy group composed largely of military contractors who work on post.
Like Pallone and Holt, Muzzi pointed to the long-term expense of transferring and rebuilding Fort Monmouth’s research and development-oriented functions, particularly the Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) at Aberdeen.
But now, besides coming up with funding to re-create Fort Monmouth at Aberdeen, the federal government is also facing the possibility that it might have to kick in millions to salvage the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Muzzi pointed out.
“We know at this particular point, some funding will be for the Gulf Coast,” Muzzi said.
Asbury Park attorney Frank LaVergne, whom the Patriots’ Alliance hired to fight the BRAC shutdown in federal court, might still be able to successfully argue that Fort Monmouth should remain open because the Pentagon violated six of eight selected criteria used to justify a base closure, Muzzi said.
In addition, five of the nine BRAC commissioners who reviewed the Defense Department’s recommendations about which installations to shut down are former military generals or admirals who once reported to the Pentagon and would routinely agree to its proposals, he added.
“That [the BRAC Commission] followed the recommendations of the Pentagon is not a surprise,” Muzzi said. “Had it been a different mix of BRAC Commissioners, things might have turned out differently.”
The BRAC Commissioners voted 7-1 with one abstention to shutter Fort Monmouth during their final hearing on the Pentagon’s listing on Aug. 24.
Aside from the court challenges, on Sept. 7 Corzine also unsuccessfully sought an injunction from the U.S. Supreme Court to block the Pentagon from forwarding its BRAC list to Bush for his signature.
Altogether, more than 5,000 civilians and 467 military personnel are employed at the 1,126-acre installation. About 2,500 military contractors work on base and approximately 23,000 military retirees and veterans are served at Patterson Army Hospital Clinic.