FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 26, 2005

Georgia Lawmakers Call for Swift Release of BRAC Data

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and members of the Georgia congressional delegation sent the below letter to President Bush regarding the release of BRAC data. 

May 26, 2005

 

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC  20500

 

Dear President Bush:

 

We write to you to express our concerns with the integrity of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.  The confidence of the American public in the fairness of the process and the ultimate decisions that will be made to close or realign military installations relies on the accuracy of the data used by the various services, as well as the validity of the calculations and comparisons made using this data.

As members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation, it is imperative that we, the Governor, the communities affected by the BRAC process, and the BRAC Commission itself, have full access to all the data on which these decisions were based.   To date, only limited and sketchy data has been made available.  With the site visits already underway today in Georgia and regional hearings set to begin shortly, we feel that the Department of Defense is long overdue in meeting its requirements under the BRAC statute.    

The BRAC statute requires that all information used in the decisions by the Secretary of Defense be made available not later than 7 days after the transmittal of the Secretary’s list of recommended realignments and closures.  We request that you immediately direct the Secretary to release all information, and further, strongly urge you to consider requesting a delay in moving forward with the BRAC process until it is confirmed that all information has been made available and given ample time to be reviewed. 

 

Thank you for your attention to our letter.  We are certain you will act in an appropriate manner.

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