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US Senate Committee Votes for New Military Base Closings
The US Senate Armed Services Committee finally voted Thursday for the first round of base closings since 1997.
The committee, meeting in a closed session, voted 17-8 for the new round, said Republican Senator John Warner, who has expressed wariness about more base closings. He did not disclose who voted for or against it.
Closing military bases in the United States is extremely unpopular politically due to potential economic disruptions in targeted communities.
The committee, in completing its version of the bill last month, deliberately left out mention of closing bases as a ploy to derail a new round of closures.
The Defense Department has said that the military has 20 percent to 25 percent more base capacity in the United States than it needs.
During the past few years, the U.S. Congress has refused repeated requests by the Pentagon for authority to close more bases. There have been four rounds of base closings since 1988.
Pentagon officials have said a new round of military base closings and consolidations could ultimately save 3.5 billion US dollars a year.
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