Mattis urges Congress to allow closing excess bases
WASHINGTON — Aiming to succeed where his predecessors failed, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called on Congress Monday to allow the military services to shutter excess bases — a move the Pentagon concludes will save billions of dollars but one that lawmakers have previously rejected.
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Mattis sought congressional approval to start a new round of base closings in 2021. He said the department “currently has more infrastructure capacity than required for operations.”
Mattis estimated closing unneeded bases would save $10 billion over a five-year period and said that money could be used to acquire four nuclear submarines or dozens of jet fighters.
The Gopled Congress rebuffed the Obama administration’s requests to reduce the number of military bases. The Army and Air Force said they had vastly more space for training and basing troops than they need, and trimming the surplus would generate savings that could be used to strengthen the military.
But lawmakers have refused to go along, questioning the data and the analysis the Pentagon used to make its argument for fewer facilities. Military installations are prized possessions in congressional districts.
Mattis appeared before the committee along with Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to field questions from lawmakers on President Donald Trump’s proposed military budget for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Trump has proposed a defense budget for 2018 of $639 billion, which includes $65 billion for ongoing military operations. Yet Republican lawmakers are pressing for upward of $30 billion more to be added to the budget. They argue the extra money is needed to rebuild the military.
The session Monday is likely to veer into questions about Russia, Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism, the Syrian civil war and other thorny subjects.
Mattis has been one of Russia’s most vocal critics. He’s called Russia the nation’s No. 1 security threat and accused its leader, President Vladimir Putin, of trying to “break” NATO.