Published: April 5, 2005
Published: April 5, 2005
Filed at 5:31 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, a staunch supporter of military facilities in his state, said Tuesday he's not done trying to halt this year's planned closure of domestic bases even though President Bush thwarted his latest attempt.
``I have options on unrelated issues,'' said Lott, a Republican, issuing a veiled threat to the administration. ``Everything in the United States Senate relates to everything else.''
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In the Senate, there's a long tradition of lawmakers delaying a bill or appointment until they get their way on a seemingly unrelated issue.
A longtime foe of shutting down U.S. military bases this year, Lott said ``the ultimate chess move'' would be getting the Senate to reject the final list of bases to close. The commission charged with helping choose which facilities to shut down to help the Pentagon save money must send the Senate that list this fall.
A Senate measure to stop the closures, put forth by Lott, failed last year by only two votes.
Last month, Lott used a procedural maneuver to block a Senate vote on the nomination of the chairman of that commission, Anthony Principi. On Friday, Bush circumvented congressional approval of the commission by appointing all nine members while lawmakers were on recess, enabling the commission to begin its work.
``I used my right to hold a nominee. They used their right to a recess appointment. I'm disappointed in that, and it may be not be without results, but we'll deal with that when the time comes,'' Lott said, smiling.
Lott, whose state is home to three military facilities considered vulnerable to closure, argues against shutting down bases during wartime and while the Pentagon is planning to bring 70,000 troops home from bases in Europe.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Tuesday the closures must occur as planned.
``We need to move forward.'' he said. ``We have to close bases, we don't have that much money to keep these bases open.''