Both the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting Office agree with these basic conclusions. Earlier this month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made their views crystal clear. Congress should not use the current budget surplus or defense funding increases as an excuse to avoid making tough choices. We cannot justify spending more for national defense unless we show our own willingness to make the best use of defense dollars by reducing unneeded defense infrastructure. Ironically, many of the same people who criticize President Clinton for not increasing the defense budget even more than he already has are the most vocal opponents of this opportunity to redirect the money we are spending on unneeded bases to higher defense priorities.
Nobody likes closing bases.
Certainly Michigan has already felt the sting of the base closure process. Thankfully our communities are making progress in recovering. But as the elected representatives of the American people, Congress has an obligation to do what is in the best interest of the nation and the health of our armed forces. We need to structure our military to meet the threats of the future such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and information warfare, not to fight the last war or preserve jobs. A decade ago, under the leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Congress had the vision and courage to start the base closure process.