U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King said Wednesday that they oppose another round of military base closures like the ones that shuttered Brunswick Naval Air Station in 2005 and Loring Air Force Base in Limestone in 1991.
There has not been what is known as a Base Realignment and Closure process since 2005 but Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, have introduced a measure that would restart the process by 2021.
Collins said in written statements Wednesday that another round of base closures “does not make sense” from either a national defense or fiscal standpoint and King said paring military infrastructure “is not in our national security interests.”
“Previous BRAC rounds have had a disproportionate effect on Maine,” said Collins. “The closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station in the 2005 BRAC round left the military with no active-duty airfield in New England and failed to deliver the promised taxpayer savings. Numerous Navy officials have told me they regretted losing the base.”
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