Clinton to request more base closures

DAILY BRIEFING

Clinton to request more base closures

President Clinton will ask Congress to grant authority to begin two new rounds of base closings starting in 2001, the Associated Press has reported.

National Security Council official Robert Bell did not indicate which or how many bases would be closed, but said the request would be part of Clinton's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning in October.

Since the last round of base closures in 1995, Congress has rejected two attempts by the Clinton administration to further shrink the network of domestic bases.

Bell said it would take a 10 percent cut in the overall U.S. military base structure to make it fit today's smaller military.

Pentagon officials say they need to close bases in order to cut costs and pay for the kind of improvements Congress says are needed. "It's going to be incumbent on Congress to cooperate and give us that authority," Bell said.