Delegation backs New Englander for closure board

LEWISTON – Maine’s congressional delegation is lobbying President Bush to ensure that at least one of the nine members of the independent base closure commission is from New England.

So far, six nominees to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission have been put forward. They include two people from California, one from the Chicago area, two from Virginia and one from Utah.

“We expect President Bush to name a geographically diverse slate of BRAC commissioners who are knowledgeable, independent and capable,” Maine’s congressional delegation said Thursday in a joint statement.

On May 1, the group will be asked to consider the closure of as many as 100 military bases, or 25 percent of the U.S. total.

Once the Pentagon’s proposed list is made public two weeks later, each of the commissioners is expected to be lobbied heavily by every affected town, state and politician.

For instance, if Brunswick Naval Air Station appears on the list, the chairman of the local effort to keep the base open predicts a tough response from the Brunswick area.

“On May 16, it’s open warfare,” Richard Tetrev, the former second-in-command at the base, said Tuesday.

Likewise, officials are prepared to lobby on behalf of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, on the Maine-New Hampshire border.

By law, six nominees for the commission come from congressional leaders: two from the speaker of the House, two from the Senate majority leader, one from the House minority leader and one from the Senate minority leader. The remaining three nominees come from the president and are due on March 15.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., selected two Virginia military men, retired Gen. John G. Coburn, a former Army deputy chief of staff, and retired Navy Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., a former supreme allied commander of the Atlantic.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., offered former Rep. James V. Hansen, R-Utah, and former Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner. Skinner is also known for his tenure as chief of staff to former President George H.W. Bush.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada picked former Democratic Rep. James Bilbray, D-Nev. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recommended Phillip E. Coyle, a former Pentagon official and a defense researcher.

The commissioners are charged with making changes to the Pentagon’s proposal only if a mistake is found – if a base’s military value has been wrongly graded. There will be plenty of chances for such mistakes to be pointed out.

Public hearings are scheduled to take months. The commission’s list is due to go to Congress in September.