The chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee supports a new round of base realignment and closure to save money, she said last week.

“I want to fully state my support for a new round of BRAC,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) said at the end of a budget hearing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Miley. “The department has stated in recent years it has 20% excess infrastructure, and we pay for that infrastructure to be maintained, and it’s doing nothing. Many of our installations were aligned and built in the wake of World War II. As we have clearly discussed today, the world has changed. A new round of BRAC is necessary, and I believe it would save taxpayers billions of dollars, and it could also save the department a lot of time and energy maintaining something that is not useful to the department anymore.”

McCollum said she realizes it is a “difficult discussion” but said she would like to talk with with defense authorizers, who have purview over BRAC.

Army photo by Sgt. Caleb Minor