BRAC Meeting Leaves Governor Feeling Optimistic About Bases in Natick and Bedford
WASHINGTON – Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney said he felt “encouraged” after attending a meeting here Thursday with members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation and a Pentagon official to discuss the defense department’s plans for the closure of military bases around the country.
Romney and other state officials are most concerned about the fate of Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford and Natick Labs (officially, the Army Soldier Systems Center) in Natick under the Pentagon’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan for 2005.
Rep. Edward Markey of Malden helped to arrange the meeting with Romney and other Democratic members of the Massachusetts delegation including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Reps. Martin Meehan of Lawrence, John Tierney of Salem , James McGovern of Worcester and John Olver of Amherst . Also attending was Ray DuBois, Defense undersecretary for installations and environment, who discussed the criteria for the closing of military bases.
Following the meeting, Kennedy called Hanscom a unique and “indispensable facility” for national security. He said Hanscom has demonstrated through the coordination of targeting and weaponry and dramatic improvement in technology and firepower that it can help save American lives.
Romney said he came away feeling “much more encouraged” because he now had greater insight into the process for deciding which bases will be closed. “We had a very good meeting with Secretary DuBois and the members of the delegation,” he said.
Meehan also said he felt it was a good meeting and the Massachusetts representatives were able to make their case. “The secretary listened and was responsive and we are going to continue this.We want to make sure the evaluation process includes the unique technical asset that Hanscom is,” Meehan said.
Markey said the message the delegation sent to the Department of Defense was that “our military should work smarter, not harder” and that the brain power in Massachusetts makes the country much more secure when it is used by the American military. He said the delegation would be making the case that closing the bases would undermine American security.
Romney added, “Our concern has been in evaluating bases the criteria would not encompass the intellectual assets which are surrounding these bases.” As a result of the meeting, Romney said he believes the process will include an evaluation of those kinds of capabilities. He said that though DuBois did not make any commitments about Hanscom or Natick , he was very encouraged about the reviews they will face.
Tierney said that DuBois indicated during the meeting that he “really understood the points that we were making.”
Tierney also pointed out that the people who will be doing the first round of evaluations of the facilities are experts in the areas of technology and communications, which are specialties of Hanscom and Natick Labs.
The military base closing procedure requires that the Pentagon submit a list to Congress, which must either accept or reject the entire list.
