Cheney Defends Plan to Rebuild Base Hit by Storm : Recovery: Defense secretary admits proposal is based on more than military needs. But he rails against charges that move is motivated by politics.

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney on Wednesday conceded that the proposed rebuilding of Homestead Air Force Base in hurricane-struck southern Florida is not based on strictly military grounds. But he fired back at critics charging that President Bush’s decision is the result of election-year politics.

Cheney, who regularly chides lawmakers for using the Pentagon’s budget to fund local “jobs programs,” said Wednesday that the base presents “a unique circumstance” in which defense funds should be used to reassure Floridians of the federal government’s commitment to help rebuild their area.

“These people badly need to have their communities restored and re-established and, in this particular case, having Homestead Air Force Base there has been sort of the anchor in that part of the state,” Cheney said.

“I think his (Bush’s) decisions ought to be evaluated on their merits and without always having this charge that somehow this is politically involved. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t criticize him for doing nothing and then criticize him when he does something.”

But in what may foreshadow a political fight over the plan, some lawmakers are already challenging the Administration’s arguments. Rep. Thomas H. Andrews (D-Me.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, says that he will call for a review of the President’s decision. Under an earlier round of base closures, Andrews’ state is to lose Loring Air Force Base and, like many lawmakers, Andrews has been stung by the politically painful process.

“We’ve just been through the base-closure process designed to take politics out of the decision-making. Now, nine weeks before the election, the President goes down there to Florida and makes a mockery of the process,” Andrews said.

“The decision of what to do with a military base should be based on the defense needs of the country and the best value to the taxpayers. Military bases should not be jobs programs or disaster-relief programs,” he said.

Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.) also criticized the decision, noting that Bush “went outside” an established process without considering the cost of rebuilding or prospects that the base would later be designated for closure.

Other lawmakers, however, remained open to the proposal. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) on Wednesday toured southern Florida--including the destroyed air base--with Gov. Lawton Chiles and declined to say how he would stand on the proposed rebuilding.

Pentagon officials said that some base repairs could begin using existing military construction funds but that Congress would be asked to approve additional funds to complete the work. Military officials have said that such an effort would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We’re ecstatic about it but surprised and taken aback,” Homestead, Fla., City Manager Alex Muxo said of the President’s decision to rebuild the air base.