THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080517
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
President Clinton announced seven nominees Tuesday to the military base-closing commission, including a South Dakota businessman who has been active in efforts to spare an Air Force facility that is his state's biggest employer.
The disclosure last month that Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., was recommending Al Cornella for membership on the panel prompted House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, the author of the law creating the commission, to call the choice ``a joke.''
Cornella, a Vietnam veteran who runs a refrigeration business in Rapid City, S.D., heads a Chamber of Commerce task force working to protect 4,600-employee Ellsworth Air Force Base from closure.
The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, an independent body, reviews bases listed for shutdown by the Defense Department and reports its conclusions to the president.
Besides Cornella, the new nominees, who require Senate confirmation, are:
Rebecca G. Cox, a vice president of Continental Airlines who served in a number of senior posts during the Reagan administration.
Retired Air Force Gen. J.B. Davis.
S. Lee Kling, a former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee who is chairman of Kling Rechter & Co., a merchant banking company in Missouri.
Benjamin F. Montoya, who rose to rear admiral during a 31-year Navy career and is now president of Public Service Co. of New Mexico.
Wendi L. Steele, who served in 1991 as Senate liaison to the base-closing commission.
Michael P.W. Stone, a former Army secretary and Defense Department official, who is now a director of BEI Electronics in San Francisco.
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSINGS MILITARY BASES by CNB