THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010367
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Jim Courter, the former New Jersey congressman who has led the last two rounds of military base closings, abruptly resigned Thursday as head of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
Courter sent a letter to President Clinton saying he was stepping aside immediately ``to clear the way for your administration to fully prepare for a vigorous round of military base closures in 1995.''
A Republican, given the job by former President George Bush, Courter had been widely praised by Democrats and Republicans for his chairmanship of base commissions in 1991 and 1993.
He has been a vigorous defender of the base closing process that Congress established when it created the first closing commission in the 1980s. The bi-partisan commission reviews and passes on base closing recommendations made by the military services; its decisions stand as a package and Congress and the president must accept all or none.
Under Courter's leadership, the commission has recommended the closing of 164 military bases and the restructuring of 93 others; its recommendations have never been overturned.
The administration and some of the military's advocates in Congress have suggested that the '95 round of closures might be canceled or delayed.
But legislation that would accomplish that has stalled and military leaders are pressing for a vigorous closure program next year.
The services say the money they save by closing excess bases is vital to their ability to buy new weapons systems.
Clinton is to appoint a new commission in December for the 1995 round of closures.
Tom Houston, staff director for the commission, said ``there was no push, there was no hint'' from anyone in the administration that Clinton wanted Courter to step aside early.
But Courter ``did not want to be the focus of debate'' over the commission's 1995 membership, Houston added.
With Democrats now in in the White House, the retention of a Republican as chairman of such a high-profile commission would likely provoke controversy, he suggested. by CNB