BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
LOU CORREA, CHAIRMAN
Bill No: SJR 19
Author: Strickland
Version: As amended April 19, 2012
Hearing Date: April 24, 2012
Fiscal: No
Consultant: Donald E. Wilson
SUBJECT OF BILL
Military Base closures in California
PROPOSED LAW
A resolution urging the California Congressional delegation
to protect California military bases from closure in the
upcoming Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission
process.
EXISTING LAW AND BACKGROUND
1. The United States of America has traditionally
reduced the strength and number of its armed forces
after major conflicts. After the revolution and the
passage of the Articles of Confederation the
government was unable to combat insurrections such as
the Whiskey Rebellion.
2. The United States found itself in a similarly
precarious position when it entered into World War I.
In spite of an increase in military strength in
response to Pancho Villa's 1916 invasion of the United
States the Army, including National Guard units,
numbered fewer than 200,000 troops.
3. After reducing its stock of conventional weapons at
the end of World War II the United States found itself
unable to respond to emergencies unless it wanted to
rely on the nuclear option.
4. At the end of the Cold War the United States
continued its tradition of reducing its military
readiness and created the Base Realignment and Closure
Commission (BRAC).
5. Under the auspices of objectivity Congress gave up
its responsibility to represent the people and created
a commission of political appointees to make base
closure decisions. The people could not hold the
commission accountable since it was composed of
appointees rather than elected representatives.
6. In the end Congress had to vote up or down on the
list in its entirety without any amendments, which
minimized representative input.
7. There have been five rounds of BRAC closures: 1988,
1991, 1993, 1995, and 2005.
8. The 1988 round of closures was prior to the end of
the Cold War and closed mainly unused bases such as
the Presidio of San Francisco and Hamilton AFB in
Novato; small training bases such as Chanute AFB in
Chicago; and duplicative bases such as Jefferson
proving grounds in Indiana.
9. Subsequent BRAC rounds hammered California taking
front line bases such as Atwater's Castle AFB,
Sacramento's Mather AFB (the Air Force's Navigation
School) & McClellan AFB (one of only four air
logistics centers in the Air Force), as well as the
Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Naval Air Station Alameda,
the Marine Corps Air Station at Tustin, Mare Island
Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, and Fort Ord in Monterey
County. Many other smaller bases were also closed.
10. California lost over two dozen military
installations in the first four BRAC rounds for an
average of over six closures per round.
11. Military retirees often pay the price
when they can no longer access certain benefits such
as commissary or pharmacy privileges due to the
scarcity of a nearby base.
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12. Base conversion to civilian use has
fallen far short of hoped for results.
13. Closed military facilities have much
unused land as a result of false expectations for
conversion.
14. The Federal Government has announced two
new rounds of base closures. One round will be
announced on May 17, 2012 and a second will be
announced on May 15, 2015.
COMMENT
1. In spite of several historical examples to learn
from, Congress has continued its short-sighted
approach of haphazardly cutting forces with the end of
the Cold War.
2. There are rumors in Washington D.C. of another BRAC
round in the near future. California should not be
caught off guard if this happens and should be aware
of its military assets.
3. The BRAC appointees are commissioned to look at
efficiency and dollars rather than the protection of
California and the sovereignty of the United States of
America. E.g.- Efficiency would tell one to close as
many bases as possible to cut down on overhead.
However strategy would tell a country to abide by the
maxim of not putting all of one's eggs in a single
basket. Strategy would tell a country to diversify
its assets over many bases to prevent one major strike
from crippling a regional force such as what happened
to the United States Navy in the attack at Pearl
Harbor.
4. California was hit especially hard by previous
rounds of BRAC closures and should be prepared to
defend its bases against more short-sighted
recommendations from unelected and unaccountable
appointees who cannot be held accountable by the
people of the United States of America.
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5. The author states, "California's military bases
economically benefit the state by providing
much-needed jobs, as well as continued safety through
their strong national security presence.
Additionally, many of California's military bases
perform tasks and trainings that are exclusive to
their base and thus extremely important to our
continued national security. SJR 19 seeks to transmit
this information to the California Congressional
delegation so they are made aware of how vitally
important California's military bases are."
SUPPORT
American Legion-Department of California
AMVETS-Department of California
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
OPPOSE
None received
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