GOP Lawmaker Suggests Politics in Base Closure
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WASHINGTON — A senior Republican demanded an investigation Thursday into whether the Clinton Administration sought to manipulate a base closing question to help Sen. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.) defeat Republican Oliver L. North.
Rep. Floyd Spence (R-S.C.), who is in line to become chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he wants to know why Deputy Defense Secretary John M. Deutch asked the Navy shortly before Tuesday’s election to review a decision to move military offices out of Virginia.
Spence said Deutch’s move may have “resulted from political considerations.” Deutch sought a review of a 1993 decision to move the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters to Maryland.
Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said the issue had nothing to do with politics.
“He did not ask the Navy to revisit the whole decision. He asked whether the figures the Navy used for moving are still valid. That’s nothing unusual,” Flood said.
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