Senate Blocks Base Closing Law Changes : Attempt to Keep Open 3 Sites Defeated in Defense Budget Vote

The Senate refused today to weaken the landmark military base closing law, voting to strip language that might have saved three sites out of the 86 targeted as lawmakers weighed a $288.2-billion 1990 defense appropriations bill.

On a vote of 86-14, senators killed a section that would have affected the package of bases that were tied together for quick closure in order to overcome political hurdles on Capitol Hill.

Congress created a special commission last year to recommend a list of military bases to close or realign in a take-it-or-leave-it package. That list was endorsed by the outgoing defense secretary, and Congress did not block it.

Closings Begin in January

The commission called for closing 34 major installations and 52 smaller ones and partially shutting down five large bases and “realigning” 54 others. The closings are to take place between January, 1990, and late 1995.

The three bases that might have been spared were Ft. Dix in New Jersey, which is to be mothballed; Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Ill., which is due to close, and Ft. Huachuca south of Tucson, Ariz., which is to lose the Information System Command to Ft. Devens, Mass.

Supporters of the endangered bases persuaded the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to put language in the bill saying a base could not be closed until the General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress, certified the closing costs would be recouped by lowered operating costs at the base in six years or less.

The bill has $300 million to start closing bases, and the closed bases are forecast to save almost $700 million a year, with total savings of $5.6 billion in 20 years.

“They cooked the numbers,” protested Sen. Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.), arguing that the base closing panel improperly calculated Chanute’s value and listed it for closure. “Mistakes can be made in government and when mistakes are made . . . you ought to correct errors.”

‘Done Its Work Fairly’

Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), an author of the base closing law, countered that the commission “has done its work fairly and Congress should step aside.”

Earlier, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, after meeting with Dixon and others, said there may be more base closings, telling reporters, “Given all of the demands to redirect dollars in the defense budget to other areas, I’ve got no choice but to find ways to close additional bases.”