THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507010472
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Republicans stepped up the pressure on President Clinton Friday to accept the base-closing panel's recommendations even though they hurt politically important California.
The White House, which has voiced ``concern'' about damage to the nation's most populous state, said Clinton has not decided whether to ask the panel to reconsider.
On the eve of the formal presentation of the closure list to the president, the head of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission insisted that the recommendations are fair.
He also warned that if the issue remained unresolved by summer's end, the government could lose the chance to save billions.
Republicans, meanwhile, said Clinton's refusal to accept the list would inject presidential politics into a national security decision.
For the first time in four closure rounds, the commission proposed saving more money than the president recommended. While Clinton's closure list would have saved $18.9 billion over 20 years, the commission's list would save $19.3 billion.
White House and Pentagon officials in the past week have repeatedly expressed ``concern'' about the list, particularly about the closure recommendations not included in the president's initial proposal, such as McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento and Oakland Army Base.
California, the richest electoral prize in next year's presidential election, has been suffering from a weak economy. California's two Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, told Clinton that the loss of 27,000 jobs due to base closings would make a bad situation worse.
``The California economy cannot take additional base closures,'' Boxer and Feinstein wrote to Clinton. ``California was once the land of golden opportunity. . . . Today, that dream of golden opportunities has disappeared.''
Ginny Terzano, deputy White House press secretary, denied that the White House had decided to send the list back to the commission, as reported Friday in The Washington Times.
``The president has yet to see the report, yet alone review it,'' Terzano said. ``He wants to give it serious consideration. You should expect no decision by the White House before the end of the Fourth of July weekend.''
Capt. Michael Doubleday, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department had not sent its recommendations to Clinton but the analysis could be completed by this weekend.
``It's a prudent, sensible list, arrived at openly and fairly, and we're proud of our work,'' commission chairman Alan Dixon told a news conference.
Dixon, who said he has not heard from the White House, challenged the portrayal of California as the leading victim of base closings: ``The suggestion that California suffered the most isn't true.''
In fact, the panel's recommendations hit Guam the hardest, he said. Alabama and Alaska were tied for second in terms of economic impact, while California tied for third with Texas, Connecticut and North Dakota. Each would lose three-tenths of a percent of the total job force.
Clinton has until July 15 to accept or send back the current list.
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSURE AND REALIGNMENT COMMISSION by CNB