DATE: Saturday, May 17, 1997                TAG: 9705170320

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   54 lines

THERE'S NO LIST, COHEN SAYS, BUT SOME BASES WILL BE CLOSED

Defense Secretary William Cohen said Friday he has targeted no specific bases or military installations for closure, but will insist Congress move forward to slim the military's ``excess baggage.''

``There is no list,'' Cohen said in an interview with reporters. He did say, however, that he will ask Congress on Monday for a new round of base shutdowns.

The disclosure last week that the secretary wants a round of closures in 1999 and 2001 set off rounds of angry statements on Capitol Hill. Cohen is slated to make the request Monday when he reveals part of his plan for the military's future force structure and strategy.

The former GOP senator from Maine said he is well aware of the ``deep animus'' among his former colleagues to the very idea of new closures, given the political problems it creates for them.

``As painful as it is, it has worked,'' Cohen said. He added that he favored a renewal of the past process, in which an independent commission chose the best bases for cutbacks or shutdown.

Cohen said he has seen the problem from both sides, having served 24 years on Capitol Hill. But the military chiefs now tell him ``they feel they are carrying excess baggage'' that forces them to postpone purchases of updated weapons for their troops.

``Are you going to insist we carry bases that aren't necessary?'' he said he will ask Congress.

Cohen was asked whether he could overcome the sour political taste left by President Clinton's move last year to counter the commission's directive shutting down bases in Texas and California by getting the private sector to take over some of the jobs. That has angered lawmakers from other states who now think their installations are in danger because there are still too many such depots.

Cohen suggested Congress could simply bar such moves in their bill to establish the commission. He said he followed a similar procedure when he was unhappy with the way he was treated during the consideration about closing an air base in his state. ``I changed the law,'' he said.

The six-month study, known as the ``Quadrennial Review,'' was conducted with the expectation that the Pentagon's budget will remain steady at about $250 billion a year.

The military, however, faces a budget squeeze as it tries to find more than $40 billion to pay for updated weaponry by the end of the century. Since overall defense spending is expected to remain flat for the next several years, officials will have to look elsewhere, such as military bases, for savings.

``The easy choices are gone. It's all hemlock here,'' he said of the budget dilemma he faces. KEYWORDS: MILITARY BASES BASE CLOSINGS

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