Base reprieve rejected House votes against delaying closings

Ohio's two senators voted against the military base closure delay bill.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A plan to delay the closure of national military bases by two years appears to be dead.
That means supporters of saving the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna will have to continue to work hard to protect it and won't have a two-year cushion, said Reid Dulberger, co-chairman of Operation Save Our Airbase Reservists.
The U.S. Senate voted 49-47 Tuesday against an effort to delay the implementation of the Base Realignment and Closure process. The amendment would have concentrated on closing overseas U.S. bases and delayed closing bases in this country for two years.
Both U.S. senators from Ohio, George V. Voinovich and Mike DeWine, voted with the majority.
"The fact that we remain engaged in efforts to fight the global war on terrorism and promote peace and stability in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world does not mean that we should put the BRAC process on hold," Voinovich said. "To the contrary, it makes action even more important. Now, we need the resources that are spent to maintain excess infrastructure to meet more pressing defense needs."
Voinovich added that he's confident each Ohio military base "can justify its existence on the merits" and that he will work to support the state's defense installations.
"The senator supports the BRAC process, but he also supports the hometown team and doesn't want to see any of the Ohio bases closed," said Amanda Flaig, DeWine's spokeswoman.
Up next in House
The U.S. House debated the 2005 defense authorization bill Wednesday. It includes a provision to delay the BRAC process until 2007. No vote was taken, but debate is expected to resume today.
A conference committee with both bodies of t he Legislature will determine if the BRAC delay is included in the final bill.
But Dulberger doesn't expect the delay to be part of the final bill because the Senate doesn't appear willing to budge on the BRAC time line. Also, President Bush is expected to veto any defense bill that delays the base closures.
Dulberger said the Senate vote came as no surprise. Officials with Operation SOAR, dedicated to saving the local base, weren't convinced that the BRAC process wouldn't be delayed.
"This doesn't change anything for us," he said. "It's unfortunate, but we'll be ready."
Committee voted for delay
The U.S. House Armed Services Committee voted last week to delay the military base closure plan. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, who is a member of the Armed Services Committee, had called that vote a minor victory. Ryan had hoped a delay would give local organizers more time to prepare their plan to save the air base, which employs more than 2,400 people.
"As a community, we need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to protect the Youngstown Air Reserve Station," Dulberger said. "The base is too important to the Valley to leave its fate to some faint hope that Congress or the administration will change its mind, particularly with the Senate consistently indicating its intent to move forward as outlined in the original legislation. We don't have the luxury of waiting to see if someone else will come along to save us."
skolnick@vindy.com