Congressman Mike Rogers today signed on to legislation that would eliminate the upcoming round of Base Realignment and Closure hearings in 2005, a move that would help provide long-term stability to the Third District’s military installations.

“We are a nation at war and should be doing all we can to strengthen, not weaken, our military,” Rogers said. “The BRAC process does not take into account the increasing demands placed on our armed forces and should be stopped.”

The legislation sponsored by Congressman Gene Taylor of Mississippi, Rogers’ colleague on the Armed Services Committee, argues the BRAC process costs taxpayers more than it saves, and refutes claims that closing bases helps save the military money.

“The BRAC savings that DoD boasts of cannot be supported by real data,” Rep. Taylor said in a letter of support.

Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce President Sherri Sumners applauded Rogers’ efforts to eliminate BRAC, while commenting on the irony of having to spend valuable resources defending the Depot during war time.

“The BRAC process wastes valuable resources, money we would much rather spend supporting the Depot’s current programs instead of a full assault in defense of its future,” she added.

Rogers is an original co-sponsor of the bill which will be introduced later this week.