Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have introduced
legislation authorizing two additional rounds of military base realignment
and closure. S. 397 would authorize base-closure rounds in 2003
and 2005.
Originally, the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 1990
was enacted to reduce redundant and under-used military infrastructure.
Three previous rounds of BRAC in 1991, 1993 and 1995 reduced the
number of military bases within the United States by more than 20
percent. During the same time period, many overseas bases also were
closed.
BRAC requires that the Defense Department establish an independent
commission to review base realignments and closures proposed by
the military branches. The Pentagon sets specific criteria for evaluating
the list, which then is approved or denied as a whole by the president
and Congress.
The McCain-Levin bill proposes several changes to the BRAC process.
S. 397 requires that the evaluation criteria include all costs and
savings to the federal government. Previous legislation required
only that cost or savings to the Defense Department be considered.
Secondly, the bill would allow privatization-in-place of the military
facility only if it is found to be the most cost-effective method
and recommended by the commission. In past BRAC rounds, opponents
say, privatization often turned out to be to be the least successful
method of base closure.
Although the Levin-McCain bill was introduced as a stand-alone
measure, the two senators plan to insert it as an amendment to the
National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002. It appears,
however, that the House of Representatives will block further rounds
of BRAC, at least for this year. If so, the BRAC process would be
delayed for one round in 2005.
The consensus in the House is that it would be premature to consider
BRAC legislation before completion of Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld’s studies and the Quadrennial Defense Review later
this year.
Small Business Liability
Small businesses would receive limited liability protection under
legislation passed by the House in late May. H.R.1831, the Small
Business Liability Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Paul Gillmore,
R-Ohio, would exempt from superfund liability any business responsible
for producing less than 110 gallons of liquid waste or 200 pounds
of solid waste.
The bill would prevent small businesses from being sued by companies
responsible for a majority of the chemical waste on a superfund
site. Additionally, the legislation would exempt small businesses
or residential property owners from lawsuits for dumping household
garbage at superfund sites.
Proponents of H.R. 1831 argue that it will provide relief to small
businesses who have shared an unfair and unreasonable share of the
liability for superfund sites under current regulation. Opponents
(what opponents? Nobody voted against it) of the legislation retort
that the bill is incomplete and only scratches the surface of needed
reforms to superfund regulations. Nevertheless, the bill passed
the House, 419-0.
Security Clearance Backlogs
The current backlog of government contractors awaiting re-examination
and first-time approval of security clearances is hindering industry’s
ability to meet the needs of the federal government, Gayle White,
chairman of NDIA’s space committee recently told the House
Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.
White cited an NDIA study showing that employers have to wait between
341 and 381 days for employees to receive security clearances from
the Defense Security Services (DSS), the government organization
charged with providing security clearance checks.
Such prolonged delays limit the contractors’ ability to complete
their work, contribute to a negative perception of the defense industry
and result in increased costs to the contractor and a loss of employees,
White said.
These delays are worsening a current shortage of workers skilled
in math, science and engineering caused, in part, by intense competition
from ‘new economy’ sectors, decreased research and development
funding and loss of a cutting-edge image, White said. A recent survey
of several Internet-based defense-job search firms found that approximately
60 percent of all openings advertised between January 30 and May
5 of this year required at least a bachelor’s degree in math
or science.
NDIA outlined several proposals to increase the number of college
graduates with degrees in math, science and engineering:
Contractors’ Reports
Section 343 of last year’s National Defense Authorization
Act (Public Law 106-65) required the secretary of defense to give
Congress a one-time report describing the use of contractors to
provide services to the Defense Department during fiscal year 1999.
Information for the report was limited to existing data collection
and reporting systems available to the department.
That report has been submitted to Congress. However, the Department
of the Army, citing the Section 343 authority, now requires that
all companies report all direct and indirect costs on a quarterly
basis in order to receive payments.
The Defense Department has discouraged the Air Force and Navy from
imposing similar requirements. (Why?) Recently, the department asked
why the Army was requiring such information and the basis for its
authority to do so. Reportedly, the Army Judge Advocate General
is reviewing the issue. Also, the Senate Armed Services Committee
raised the issue in May during the confirmation hearing for Thomas
White’s nomination as Army Secretary.