Gannett News Service January 07, 2005
Simmons will have tough time fulfilling campaign promises
By Katherine Hutt Scott
WASHINGTON -- Republican Rep. Rob Simmons' tough re-election race is behind him, but now he faces an equally tough test: making good on two major campaign promises.
Simmons, R-Stonington, told voters he was their best hope for keeping Groton's U.S. Navy Submarine Base open during this year's round of military base closings. Simmons also said he would try to arrange for the Navy to move more quickly to begin buying two Virginia-class submarines each year instead of one.
White House and Pentagon officials want to close military bases to shrink excess capacity and save money.
Simmons said on the campaign trail he was better positioned than his Democratic opponent to protect the sub base because of his experience in Congress and background in intelligence. He has served two terms and sits on the House Armed Services Committee. He once worked at the Central Intelligence Agency and was chief of staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Defense expert John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, agreed with Simmons' assertion -- up to a point.
"He'll have a better idea who to call, who to write," Pike said of Simmons. But he added, "I have no doubt if the other person had been elected and been of a mind, they could have hired a staff person and done about as well."
Pike said although the base closure process is designed to be insulated from political pressure, everyone with a stake in the outcome is trying to exert influence. It's unclear whether any of them will succeed, he said.
Another defense analyst, Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, said members of Congress won't be able to influence the base closure process unless they shut it down entirely, which is unlikely because some members stand to gain from it by having military facilities moved to their districts.
"It doesn't matter which committee (Simmons) sits on, and it doesn't matter which consultants he hires," Thompson said.
Simmons spokesman Todd Mitchell disputed that, arguing that Simmons' position on Armed Services has acquainted him with many players in the Pentagon. Also, Simmons arranged for Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to visit the base last fall and Hunter subsequently promised to lobby Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to keep the base open.
"Whether they admit it or not, politics and who supports which base is important in the grand scheme of things," Mitchell said.
On the submarine issue, Simmons said on the campaign trail he wanted to see the Navy switch sooner to buying two submarines a year rather than one.
The submarines are jointly made by the Groton shipyard of General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division and Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
Until late last month, the Navy planned to begin buying two submarines a year starting in 2009.
But a Dec. 23 Pentagon planning document that surfaced this month calls for purchasing only one submarine a year through at least 2011. That plan, which covers defense programs in fiscal years 2006-2011, probably will be reflected in the fiscal 2006 budget proposal that the Pentagon submits to Congress in February.
"Rather than accelerating the date at which you get to two per year, it defers the date," said Ronald O'Rourke, naval analyst for the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress.
Mitchell said Congress can change what the Pentagon proposes. He said Simmons is in a good position to shape defense programs from his position on the Armed Services Committee, which reviews and authorizes defense programs before they receive federal money.
"It's a proposal coming out of the Pentagon and it's up to Congress to implement what they see fit," Mitchell said.
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