Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 19, 1993 TAG: 9310190081
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
At issue in the case, which involves the scheduled closing of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, is the future of a law that was carefully crafted to enable Congress and the president to close or shrink military installations without being exposed to political retribution.
The law, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, protects legislators from the wrath of constituents by removing the need for them to vote on base closings.
Instead, the initial decision is made by an independent, bipartisan commission, acting on the Pentagon's recommendation. The president must accept or reject the panel's list in its entirety. His decision becomes final if Congress does not vote within 45 days to overturn it.
An effort to disapprove the 1991 base closing list, which included the Philadelphia Navy base and 81 other bases, failed in the House of Representatives and never came to a vote in the Senate.
In a move that provided still more political distance from the decision on the 192-year-old Philadelphia base, the four senators from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as members of the House, other officials from the area, and labor unions representing workers at the base, filed a lawsuit. They argued that the selection of the base was invalid because of procedural errors made as the list was being compiled.
The Federal District Court in Philadelphia ruled that decisions made under the base closing act were not subject to judicial challenge and dismissed the suit.
But the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reinstated it, ruling last May that the president is without constitutional authority to approve recommendations that reach him as a result of procedural errors. The case has not yet gone to trial.
by CNB