mr. chairman , i rise in reluctant support of the resolution to reject the recommendations of the base closure and realignment commission .  i support the brac process and believe that over the years it has led to the orderly reorganization of our nation 's defense infrastructure .  i believe the pentagon and the brac commission made a good-faith effort to carefully examine every base .  nonetheless , i continue to believe the commission made a terribly shortsighted decision when it voted to uphold some of the pentagon 's recommendations for naval base ventura county .  i am particularly disappointed the commission voted to move some of the rdt & amp ; e missions away from the base .  in my view , the commission ignored a number of important factors .  first , the commission 's vote went against the recommendation of its professional staff .  the staff correctly recognized that naval base ventura county has significant military value , and its missions contribute to the readiness of our war fighter .  second , relocating the vital functions performed by the personnel at the base will have lasting consequences for our national security .  the activities conducted at this site for the navy , air force , missile defense agency , and others can not be replicated anywhere else in the nation .  moreover , the base 's sea range is linked with other inland ranges in california -- providing an unmatched capability to the defense department .  the realignment will diminish these existing operational capabilities and efficiencies and negatively impact the ability of our fighting men and women to get their jobs done .  the effect of this would be immediately felt in iraq and afghanistan .  finally , realigning the base 's missions will waste , not save , taxpayer dollars .  we can not afford to spend a lot of money to move missions and personnel when there 's no long-term savings involved .  especially now that we 're looking at spending more than $ 200 billion to help rebuild the gulf coast areas devastated by hurricanes katrina and rita .  mr. chairman , the brac process must be logical and fair .  i do not believe this round of closures met those criteria .  i continue to strongly believe the missions at naval base ventura county are a critical element of our national security system and an important asset to our local community .  i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the resolution of disapproval .  