Governor Bush Applauds Advisory Council on Base Realignment and Closure for Completing Statewide Community Briefings

APPLAUDS ADVISORY COUNCIL ON BASE REALIGNMENT AND CLOSURE FOR COMPLETING STATEWIDE COMMUNITY BRIEFINGS

~Florida congressional delegation joins effort with letter to Secretary Rumsfeld~

Governor Jeb Bush today applauded the Governor's Advisory Council on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) for completing its third round of community-based meetings, which provides an update on the State's latest efforts to strengthen Florida's position going into BRAC 2005. The community briefings, which were held statewide over the past two weeks follow the Governor's recent trip to Washington D.C., where he and the Council met with top Pentagon officials and Florida's Congressional Delegation on behalf of Florida's 21 military installations and three unified commands.

"I thank the Advisory Council on BRAC, the Florida Defense Alliance and communities statewide for their commitment to defend our military assets in the face of BRAC 2005," said Governor Bush. "I also thank each member of Florida's congressional delegation for their support of Florida's military installations, missions and defense-related personnel. We are entering into the final stages of the Federal Base Realignment and Closure process, and our combined efforts are more important now than ever."

Among the positive outcomes from the Governor's visit to Washington D.C. in February, was a letter signed by every member of Florida's Congressional Delegation to Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, emphasizing their unanimous support for Florida's military installations, mission, personnel, and their families. Protecting and growing Florida's 21 military installations and three unified commands is a core priority of Governor Bush's administration. Defense-related spending in Florida has an annual economic impact of $44 billion, employing over 714,000 Floridians. Ranking as the state's third largest economic sector, defense and related spending occurs in each of Florida's 67 counties.

Created in February 2003, the Governor's Advisory Council on BRAC is comprised of senior business and retired military leaders, who possess strong national defense experience in handling previous BRAC rounds. Working in tandem with the Florida Defense Alliance, the Governor's Advisory Council is the state's point on developing and leading a strategic and sophisticated effort to protect Florida's bases from closure, downsizing or negative realignment as the final BRAC list nears completion. The Advisory Council is also geared to ensure the strengths and weaknesses of each Florida installation are understood -- focusing on issues pertaining to encroachment, quality of life, cross-service joint-use opportunities, and the relative value of each installation to the military.

Please see the attached letter to Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. As part of the 2005 BRAC process, Secretary Rumsfeld is required to submit to the presidentially appointed Federal BRAC Commission a list of bases, installations and missions throughout the United States recommended for closure or realignment. Fore more information on the Advisory Council on BRAC, visit www.myflorida.com <>http://www.myflorida.com.

http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/library/releases/2005/March/2005-03-07-base_realignment.pdf