FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 18, 2009

Isakson: Department of Defense Must ‘Live Up to Responsibilities’ When It Asks Local Communities to Prepare for Additional Troops
Makes Plea for Southeast Georgia Community Where DOD Scrapped Plans for Additional Brigade Combat Team

WASHINGTON – During a speech today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said it is wrong of the Department of Defense to ask local communities to shoulder the financial burden alone when they invest significant financial resources to prepare for significant military expansions that are later scrapped.

Isakson made the remarks in reference to the southeast Georgia community around Fort Stewart, which had been planning since December 2007 for the addition of a Brigade Combat Team that would have added approximately 3,500 troops plus their families and additional military support personnel.

In June, the Department of Defense announced it would officially stop the growth of the Brigade Combat Teams at 45, instead of the 48 Brigade Combat Teams originally planned. Georgia’s Fort Stewart was expected to receive the 46th Brigade Combat Team.

“Whenever we announce to communities an expansion of our military and we call upon them to provide the money, the infrastructure and the manpower to support those troops, it is important for us to live up to the responsibilities we have and see to it that to the maximum extent possible those communities are made whole,” Isakson said.

On Dec. 9, Isakson, along with U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., hosted a meeting with community leaders from Liberty County and Secretary of the Army John McHugh to discuss the impact of the loss of the Brigade Combat Team at Fort Stewart. 

The appropriations bill for the Department of Defense, which is expected to pass the Senate on Saturday, contains $40 million in funding for communities that are adversely impacted by program changes, including base closures or realignments, base expansions and contract or program cancellations. Hinesville and Liberty County are eligible for a portion of this funding.

“Unfortunately, for the community of Liberty County, for the private developers in Liberty County and the banking system in Liberty County, they can't get a do-over. They have already borrowed the money. They have already deployed the capital. They have already made the investment,” Isakson said. “I will continue to work on behalf of Liberty County and the people of Hinesville who have made this investment to see to it that funds are available to hopefully mitigate some of the damage.”

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