Bush names base-closure panel

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, apparently brushing aside a stall tactic by Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., appointed the nine-member commission that will determine military bases closings without waiting for Senate confirmation.

Bush made the appointments while the Senate was in recess, the White House announced Friday night. The recess appointments prevent delays as the commission prepares to make the first round of base closings in a decade.

Former Utah congressman Jim Hansen is among those appointed to the commission.

He said Saturday that despite his connection to Utah, he will not favor Hill Air Force Base, Dugway Proving Grounds, Tooele Army Depot or Deseret Chemical Depot because he now has to act in the best interests of the military and not just the state.

"There's nobody that can claim that they're so important that they can make sure their base will stay open," Hansen said. "I don't know what's going to happen."

Before it left for its spring recess the full Senate had been expected to vote on the nomination of Anthony J. Principi, former secretary of veterans affairs, as chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. The other commissioners, nominated by Bush on March 15, also required Senate confirmation.

However, Lott -- who opposes base closures and has pledged to protect military facilities in his home state -- placed a "hold" on Principi's nomination, according to aides and lobbyists speaking on condition of anonymity. The hold delayed voting on the nomination.

Lott was expected to place holds on the other nominations as well, the aides and lobbyists said earlier this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee had approved Principi's nomination and planned to review the other nominations in the next few weeks.

Lott has said the United States should not be closing bases while troops are at war. "I will try to stop it at any point and in any way I possibly can," he said in February.

Recess appointments expire when the Senate's current session ends, in this case in 2006. However, the commission likely will have concluded its work by the end of this year.

Lott's chief of staff, William Gottshall, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld must recommend bases for closure or consolidation by May 16.

Besides Hansen, the others appointed to the commission are:

Former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi of California, chairman.

Former Rep. James H. Bilbray of Nevada.

Former Assistant Defense Secretary Philip Coyle of California.

Retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. of Virginia.

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner of Texas.

Retired Army Gen. James T. Hill of Florida.

Samuel Knox Skinner of Illinois, former chief of staff and secretary of transportation under President George H.W. Bush.

Retired Air Force Gen. Lloyd Warren Newton of Connecticut.

Bush had nominated retired Army Lt. Gen. Claude M. Kicklighter of Georgia for the commission. However, his name did not appear on the list of appointments. Instead, Newton was appointed to the commission.

The White House statement made no reference to the change.

Contributing: Kersten Swinyard, Deseret Morning News

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