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 .  