Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. MacARTHUR. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Texas.

I have been fighting against BRAC since January, when I led a bipartisan letter urging then-Defense Secretary Hagel to not call for another round of base closures. But a BRAC was included in the President's budget, and here we are today.

Along with the gentleman from Texas, I am bringing this amendment and fighting against BRAC for two reasons:

First, BRAC is not cost effective. As was mentioned, the 2005 BRAC was supposed to cost $21 billion. Just a few years later, it has now skyrocketed to $35 billion. On top of that, the savings were reduced by 73 percent. So it cost the taxpayers more and saved them less. Once more, the Department of Defense won't even recoup its upfront costs until 2018, 13 years after it started.

And second, I oppose BRAC because it destroys local economies. I know this all too well as Fort Monmouth in my home State was shuttered in 2005. That area is still recovering from the loss.

My district is home to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is responsible for 105,000 local jobs in southern New Jersey. It is a $7 billion impact on just one local community. Like so many other military bases around the country, it is the backbone of our community. If it is closed, the area would be devastated.

Spending more, saving less, ruining local economies, and reducing our military capability should not be done based on what we know today. In closing, I urge passage of this amendment.

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