GOP lawmakers tell White House to forgo military base closings

WASHINGTON — Forty-two Republicans reached out to President Barack Obama this week, asking him to forego more military base closings and cuts.

They sent a letter to the president, asking him to work with Congress in a bipartisan effort to protect national defense from deep cuts and new rounds of base realignment and closure.

"We urge you to work with Congress to ensure that communities across the nation do not see increases in unemployment and a weakening of the greatest military in the world," the letter dated Monday said.

The goal of the letter is to not have another BRAC in 2013, said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas.

Other Republican lawmakers from states including Texas, Colorado, Ohio, Nebraska, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, signed the letter. No Democrats signed on.

The president’s 2013 budget proposes a round of BRAC in 2013 and another one in 2015 to cut infrastructure as the military becomes a leaner force no longer engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Defense also is taking $487 billion in cuts over the next 10 years and stands to absorb about $500 billion more unless lawmakers act to head off sequestration -- automatic spending cuts to meet an arbitrary spending ceiling -- by January 2013.

"This is no time for another round of base closing because we can’t afford it financially, and we can’t afford the upheaval," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

The letter pointed out that the 2005 BRAC cost an estimated $37 billion and won’t show any net savings until 2018 at the earliest.

"With threats around the globe and during a time when every defense dollar is scarce, what is the justification for spending on additional base closures?" the letter said.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is pushing for BRAC because the military proposes cutting 100,00 troops, mostly from the Army and Marines, leaving the services with excess infrastructure. The Air Force is to lose 10,000 troops.

But Panetta has publicly appealed to lawmakers during Capitol Hill hearings to head off the $500 billion in cuts from sequestration.

(Reach Trish Choate at choateshns.com.)