EDITORIAL: Now is not the time for a BRAC round

The U.S. House has passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, which, for the federal government, begins Oct. 1.

One important aspect of this bill, which provides military personnel with a much-needed pay raise, is that it prohibits a round of Base Realignment and Closures.

When President Trump sent his budget request to Congress, it included a request for a BRAC commission to look at trimming and consolidating bases. In the House’s passage of the NDAA, that request was rejected.

The idea of a BRAC commission was to take the politics out of military bases. Rather than have lawmakers negotiate with each other on which bases to close, consolidate, expand or stay as is, the appointed commission would present Congress with its recommendations in those areas. Congress has to accept or reject the commission’s recommendations as a whole, which means political cherry-picking can’t be employed.

Under Trump’s request, the base closings would start in 2021, conveniently delaying the full impact on local economies until after the 2020 election.

Any government spending — defense included — should be scrutinized to ensure the agency or program is delivering a needed service or benefit to the public and that the spending is being conducted as wisely as possible. But we agree with House lawmakers who say this is not the right time to implement another round of the BRAC process.

After the meat-cleaver budget approach known as sequestration, we need a clear picture of where our national defense stands and where it is headed. Georgia’s lone member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, noted that the FY 2016 NDAA had required the Department of Defense to provide Congress with a force structure plan and infrastructure inventory, but said the department has yet to submit the infrastructure report.

In speaking against an amendment this week that would have removed the language prohibiting a BRAC round in FY 2018, Scott said, “Quite simply, we may not have enough capacity and infrastructure to meet our current needs and our needs going forward as we look at threats coming from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the threat of global terrorism, and transitional criminal organizations.” The amendment failed by a 175-248 vote.

Georgia has nine military installations, including our own Marine Corps Logistics Base, as well as Fort Benning, Moody Air Force Base and Robins AFB. A BRAC decision that negatively impacted those or any other Georgia bases would negatively affect the state’s economy, but, even more important than that, it could negatively impact America’s ability to defend itself. The haphazard cuts under sequestration need to be assessed and understood.

The cost of national defense is high — $695.9 billion, in the House legislation that passed in a 344-81 vote. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. We agree with Scott that the Senate should move quickly on the bill. And the final bill that goes to the president should retain the language prohibiting a BRAC.