THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412100171
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Virginians would do well to sleep lightly as the next round of military base closings approaches, Virginia's senior senator says.
``Our motto is: We are going to sleep with one eye open right throughout this process,'' Republican John Warner said Friday as he emerged from a bipartisan meeting with Hampton Roads' congressional delegation after a daylong session with military leaders.
``We are not going to take a single chance,'' he said during a news conference at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. He was joined there by Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., Gov. George Allen and congressmen from Hampton Roads to study a base that's been scrutinized by the last Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
``Even though this yard survived the last (round), we are going to make sure that everything is done so that it survives this BRAC,'' Warner said.
The delegation, led by Allen, visited Fort Eustis in Newport News and the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station to make certain that state and congressional representatives are united in efforts to preserve Virginia's defense industry.
``We all need to work together as a team,'' Allen said. ``We are fully confident that if (members of the base closing commission) get all of the objective facts as to how important these facilities are to our national defense . . . then there is no doubt that these facilities will remain.''
The issue isn't what's good for Virginia, but what's good for national defense and a good investment for taxpayers, Allen said.
Military facilities in Hampton Roads present an ``attractive synergism, or clustering,'' Allen said, that is ``vastly superior to anything on the Eastern Seaboard.''
``That is what we want to make sure the folks up in Washington and the commission understand.''
The commission will launch a new round of congressionally mandated base closings and realignments in January. By July, it will have decided which facilities it will recommend be cut.
In addition to those facilities visited by the lawmakers on Friday, the future of Oceana Naval Air Station and Fort Story in Virginia Beach and Fort Monroe in Hampton concern officials.
The lawmakers met with Adm. William J. Flanagan, commander of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, and William Cassidy, a deputy assistant secretary of the Navy.
``We feel that the military value in all of these facilities is superior to the others they'll be competing with in the (base closing) process,'' said Rep. Robert C. Scott, a Democrat representing Norfolk, Portsmouth and the Peninsula. ``Our job is to make sure that the information gets to those that are making those decisions.''
Also attending were Rep. Owen B. Pickett, a Democrat representing Norfolk and Virginia Beach; Rep. Norman Sisisky, a Democrat representing Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk; and Rep. Herbert Bateman, a Republican representing the Peninsula and the Eastern Shore. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
U.S. Sen. John Warner, left, and Gov. George Allen talk to members
of the press Friday at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, which will be
assessed by the base-closing commission.
by CNB