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SENATOR BOXER ON THE PENTAGON'S PLAN FOR BASE CLOSURES
Since 1988, a process known as Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, has closed 97 major military installations nationwide. Twenty-nine were in California.
In November 2002, the Secretary of Defense outlined structure and timelines for an additional BRAC round in 2005. This action may close up to 25 percent of all U.S. military installations.
California has already endured more than its fair share of base closures. Senator Feinstein and I both opposed this additional BRAC round in the Senate as did many other senators. However, those who wanted to proceed prevailed.
Californians know the devastating effects of past closures because we took a disproportionate hit in previous base closure rounds.
California's counties and cities are all too familiar with the serious impact closed military facilities may have on local communities. Jobs are lost, small businesses close, and what is left is sometimes infrastructure that is difficult to reuse. In many cases, environmental contamination makes large tracts of land off limits until decades of cleanup are complete. By the Pentagon's own estimates, some California bases won't be fully cleaned up until 2050!
Rather than pursue another painful round of military base closures, I believe the Pentagon should focus its energy and resources on cleaning up the bases it has already closed, enabling communities to bring these areas back to full use.
I am working with my colleagues in Congress and communities throughout California to save their bases. This page features important BRAC dates, links to information about California bases, key military links and other useful sites that contain information about the BRAC process.
 Click here to read a statement from Senator Boxer to the Council on Base Support and Retention Public Forum (1/12/2005).
Click here to view a list of military bases in California.
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