EVEN as Iraqis fight over federalism and whether to have a decentralized national government, Americans have been watching our own regional jockeying unfurl here at home. Since the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) released its recommendations to relocate military facilities, respect for the common good has been all but abandoned.
At a time when our nation is at war, the responses to the BRAC report are more than a little bit unseemly. Politicians have forsaken propriety as they grovel and pout for their own states to be spared from any closures. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), who tied his political career to maintaining an Air Force base in his state, even stalked BRAC members at meetings across the country until they relented to his demands. Sad to say, Virginia's own statewide officials, led by Sen. John Warner (R), have not reacted any more honorably to the recommendations.
Under the BRAC plan, the Pentagon would be allowed to close most of its leased offices in Northern Virginia. Not only would the Pentagon save millions in rent by moving those jobs to property it owns, but it would also better protect its operations and, more importantly, the lives of the men and women who run those operations. Last summer, I lived in an apartment literally a stone's throw across from a Pentagon office in Alexandria. That office, which was not atypical of military offices in Northern Virginia, was dangerously vulnerable to attack. The Washington Post reports that almost none of the offices in that region meet the Pentagon's new standards for protecting against truck bombs, a very real threat in the post-Sept. 11 world.
Despite these serious concerns, Senator Warner has opposed the BRAC plans on legalistic grounds, arguing that Pentagon officials improperly prejudged the issue. Asked to explain Warner's opposition, his press office pointed to statements on his Website. According to those documents, officials first targeted Northern Virginia for job cuts two years ago. These predetermined decisions, Warner contends, "subjectively and substantially influence[ed]" the safety and cost considerations. BRAC then allegedly relied on those improper justifications in its own report.
Although Warner offers several examples of officials singling out Northern Virginia, he never explains their motive. Warner is a former secretary of the Navy and a patriot, and, as far as we know, he is not in the pocket of the landlords. Surely he cannot be against saving the Pentagon on rent or securing military offices against terrorist threats. The only motivation for his response seems to be the prospect of losing military jobs to other states. Even in this respect, Warner's shrill reaction is unwarranted.
While a sliver of the jobs relocated from Northern Virginia may end up in Maryland, the majority will likely move to Fort Belvoir and Quantico -- both of which are decidedly in the Commonwealth. As Politics Prof. Larry Sabato explained in an e-mail, Virginia has always been one of the top three military states over the past 60 years. Since BRAC is charged with consolidating military jobs, and "consolidation implies that [remote] bases will be moved to us," Sabato contends that "Virginia has always done reasonably well in the BRAC process," and that this year was no exception.
Sabato believes Warner's expressed pique at the Northern Virginia moves may also be payback for BRAC's separate decision to relocate the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach to Florida. However, neither the prospect of losing a few jobs to Maryland nor political brinksmanship justify risking the lives of tens of thousands of military staff in unsafe buildings that are also expensive to maintain.
Given the thriving economy and the insatiable demand for real estate in the Washington, D.C. area, Northern Virginia should have no trouble making up for the closed military offices. In fact, under the Supreme Court's reasoning in its recent eminent domain case -- that property should be transferred to whoever will pay more taxes on it -- the shift of tens of millions of square feet of real estate into private hands will likely be an economic boon.
Senator Warner's parochial protests against the BRAC recommendations have been typical of the reaction by politicians in every other state. However, Virginians should ask more of their officials. With so many residents serving in the military, and a legacy of having produced eight of the nation's presidents (more than any other state), Virginia has always led the sacrifice in putting the common good of the nation first. Reactions to the BRAC report, crafted for our military's wellbeing, should be no different.
Eric Wang's column usually appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ewang@cavalierdaily.com
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