mr. chairman , there is no shortage of valid complaints to be made of this round of the defense base realignment and closure commission 's work . 
i generally support the brac process . 
but what is important about the brac process is the process and how it is handled by the commission itself . 
i feel that insufficient attention was paid to the role each individual base played in the united states national security , and , more importantly , the homeland security . 
the recommendations seem to be based much more on bean counting than strategic value , nowhere more so than in the case of ellington field in houston , texas . 
ellington field is currently home to the texas air national guard 's 147th fighter wing , who just got back from iraq and showed themselves to be exemplary not just in their efforts before going to iraq , but in iraq itself . 
they were absolutely exemplary in their efforts and in their service . 
we appreciate them in everything that they do . 
but ellington is also home to several other branches and resources of our armed services , all of whom are responsible for the protection of the entire gulf coast . 
its national and homeland security facilities should be plain to anyone as in need of more personnel , greater maintenance and better military assets . 
yet the brac commission has chosen to realign ellington , removing its f-16 fighter wing and leaving the gulf coast , to my mind , in many ways more vulnerable than it is now . 
the houston-galveston region has all nine of the fbi targets . 
it is the only region in the entire united states that has all nine of those targets . 
the commission 's ellington decision was a bad one . 
i join with the proponents of this resolution and , for that matter , the two brac commissions , including chairman principi who voted to save ellington , in their frustration . 
the flawed methodology and dangerous implications of the commission 's work , particularly with regard to the ellington field decision , leave me no choice but to oppose the brac recommendations and support the resolution before us . 
we should all support the work of the brac commission to consolidate and improve the alignment of our military assets to strengthen our national security . 
this round of recommendations , in my view , does not accomplish that goal . 
i will continue to work on behalf of ellington field and to ensure national and homeland security interests of the gulf coast region . 
