mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from missouri ( mr. skelton ) xz4003770 for the opportunity to be heard . 
after a series of hearings and debates today , the house will vote on h. j. res. 65 , disapproving recommendation of the defense base closure and realignment commission . 
i stand here in opposition to that resolution and support the brac process . 
since the department of defense released those dreaded base closure recommendations on may 13 , 2005 , elected officials , community leaders , and employees have come together to make the case for keeping their respective facilities open . 
i respect the brac process . 
i understand that it is necessary for the department of defense to reconfigure its infrastructure into one where operational and support capacity is optimized for both war-fighting capability and efficiency . 
i also understand that the brac process assists the department in maximizing joint utilization of defense resources and reallocates military personnel from supporting and operating unnecessary and underutilized infrastructure . 
however , i believe that the brac process should remain a fair process , allowing for every facility to be evaluated in a clear and consistent manner . 
let me state that i am extremely pleased that on august 26 , 2005 , the brac commission decided not only to reverse its decision to close the defense finance accounting service in cleveland , ohio , but to expand and add jobs at this facility . 
this facility has earned the right to remain open and continue to provide a-plus services to its executive clients and , most importantly , the men and women serving in afghanistan , iraq , and around the world . 
dfas cleveland is an integral part of the nerve center that supports our troops on the ground in iraq and worldwide . 
it is the homesite of the reserve pay center of excellence which processes payroll for the army , air force , naval reserves and national guard . 
it has a track record of innovation and success that has been recognized on more than one occasion . 
i thank the entire brac commission , particularly chairman principi and general lloyd newton , for their service . 
in addition , i would like to thank the gentleman from ohio ( mr. latourette ) xz4002350 who is seated on the floor and his staff for all the work they did in supporting dfas , as well as the gentleman from ohio ( mr. kucinich ) xz4002270 for his tireless efforts . 
through our collaboration , we were able to outline to the commission the various discrepancies in the initial recommendation and make a good case for reversing the recommendation for removing the cleveland dfas office . 
i want to thank also the cleveland partnership and its membership . 
thanks to carol caruso behind the scenes and thanks to attorney fred nance , the managing partner of squires , sanders and dempsey , who argued our case before the commission . 
he was brilliant . 
finally , i would like to say that this process has been a grueling process . 
in the city of cleveland , we have lost so many jobs over the past 4 years . 
the thought that we would lose another 1 , 200 jobs if dfas moved was just grueling , and we are thankful for the commission 's recommendation . 
again , i vehemently argue in opposition to h. j. res. 65 and thank my colleagues for their support . 
