WASHINGTON, DC– Senator Susan Collins, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Ranking Member Senator Joe Lieberman, announced today that the Department of Defense has released additional documents related to the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process following the Senators’ issuance of a subpoena last Tuesday.
The newly released documents, which were covered under the subpoena issued last week, include documents related to various scenarios used by the Pentagon in making its recommendations for base closure and realignments; the Pentagon’s requests to military installations for data; and the installations’ responses to those requests.
Senators Collins and Lieberman said that the newly available documents are the types of documents needed for the public and Congress to have a better understanding of how the Department of Defense arrived at is base closure and realignment recommendations.
In a joint statement, the Senators said, “ We are encouraged that, following our issuance of the subpoena, the Defense Department is disclosing the documents communities need to make their cases before the BRAC commission. The Defense Department has agreed to produce additional documents on Monday and throughout next week and to finish responding to our subpoena by Friday. In the spirit of this commitment and assuming continued production throughout the week, we have agreed to extend the deadline to Friday at noon.”
The law creating the BRAC process requires the Defense Department to release “all information” underlying its recommendations. However, the Defense Department failed to comply with its statutory obligation – first by delaying its release of information; then by disclosing information but only in a classified format, inaccessible to the communities of the installations slated for closure or realignment; and finally by disclosing information in only a piecemeal and limited fashion.
Senators Collins and Lieberman issued the subpoena on last week following weeks of complaints from Members of Congress, State officials, and representatives of affected communities. The subpoena requires the Pentagon to release the information underlying its BRAC recommendations by noon on Monday, June 13.