The Telegraph OnlineSenators want info on base closings
Lawmakers say they will subpeona date used in decisions
By The Associated Press
Published: Monday, Jun. 6, 2005
Sens. Susan Collins and Joseph Lieberman said Sunday they remain ready to use subpoena power to force the Pentagon to release the information used to support its base closing recommendations.
The senators said Saturday’s release of some documents was a step in the right direction, but they will not tolerate further foot-dragging.
“Fortunately, and perhaps spurred by the threat of an impending subpoena, (the Department of Defense) seems finally to have begun to understand that it has to comply with the law’s requirement to release information,” the senators said. “But we are beyond frustrated at how little – and of how little use – the information is that has been released so far.
“While we hope this release indicates that the Pentagon has finally concluded that it must comply with the law and that a subpoena will not prove necessary, a subpoena has been drafted, and we will proceed to issue it if the Department does not make significant and rapid progress in releasing the remaining information.”
The senators wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on May 27 saying that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs would issue a subpoena unless the data was released promptly.
Collins, R-Maine, is chairwoman of the committee and Lieberman, D-Conn., is the ranking Democrat.
Connecticut was the hardest hit by the recommendations, with four facilities making the list, including the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton. The state would lose about 8,600 jobs – nearly 30 percent of the net national job losses.
In Maine, nearly 8,000 jobs would be eliminated by closing the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on the New Hampshire border and a Defense Finance Accounting Service center in northern Maine, as well as stripping aircraft and half of the military personnel from Brunswick Naval Air Station.