April 3, 2005

Bush sidesteps senator's objections, appoints base closings commission

By Douglass K. Daniel, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, brushing aside a stall tactic by Sen.
Trent Lott, R-Miss., appointed the nine-member commission that will
determine military bases closings without waiting for Senate confirmation.

Bush made the appointments while the Senate was in recess, the White House
announced Friday night. The recess appointments prevent delays as the
commission prepares to make the first round of base closings in a decade.

Before it left for its spring recess the full Senate had been expected to
vote on the nomination of Anthony J. Principi, former secretary of veterans
affairs, as chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
The other commissioners, nominated by Bush on March 15, also required Senate
confirmation.

However, Lott -- who opposes base closures and has pledged to protect
military facilities in his home state -- placed a "hold" on Principi's
nomination, according to aides and lobbyists speaking on condition of
anonymity. The hold delayed voting on the nomination.

Lott was expected to place holds on the other nominations as well, the aides
and lobbyists told The Associated Press earlier this week. The Senate Armed
Services Committee had approved Principi's nomination and planned to review
the other nominations in the next few weeks.

The White House said Bush felt the recess appointments were appropriate
since the full committee had already acted on Principi. Plus, the president
wants no delay in the "important work for the nation" that the base closure
panel will have before it, spokesman Ken Lisaius said Saturday.

"The president believes there is important work for the (commission) to
start on," he said.

Lott has said the United States should not be closing bases while troops are
at war. "I will try to stop it at any point and in any way I possibly can,"
he said in February.

Recess appointments expire when the Senate's current session ends, in this
case in 2006. However, the commission probably will have concluded its work
by the end of this year.

Lott's chief of staff, William Gottshall, and Lott spokesman Lee Youngblood
did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
praised the appointments, saying the closures are important for national
security.

The commission law "sets a very tight schedule, with specific dates, within
which the commission must hire a staff, travel to numerous military bases,
consult with community leaders, conduct a thorough analysis and prepare its
detailed report," Warner said in a statement. "The time to accomplish these
essential tasks is very short, and I support the president's decision to
expedite their appointments."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld must recommend bases for closure or
consolidation by May 16.

Appointed to the commission were:

--Principi, of California, chairman.

--Former Rep. James H. Bilbray of Nevada.

--Former Assistant Defense Secretary Philip Coyle of California.

--Retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. of Virginia.

--Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner of Texas.

--Former Rep. James V. Hansen of Utah.

--Retired Army Gen. James T. Hill of Florida.

--Samuel Knox Skinner of Illinois, former chief of staff and transportation
secretary under President George H.W. Bush.

--Retired Air Force Gen. Lloyd Warren Newton of Connecticut.

Bush had nominated retired Army Lt. Gen. Claude M. Kicklighter of Georgia
for the commission. However, his name did not appear on the list of
appointments. Instead, Newton was appointed. The White House statement made
no reference to the change.