BRAC Process Said to be Skewed by Improper Withholding
Defense Department officials improperly withheld crucial data from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission that might have justified the continued operation of certain Department laboratories and facilities, according to a new insider account (pdf).
A detailed timeline supported by a hundred pages of internal documentation leads the author to urge a reversal of the decision to close Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, among other actions.
The anonymous author, known to Secrecy News, said he has no financial or other material interest in the matter. He wrote that “integrity in Government decision-making is fundamental and essential to democracy.”
See “Pentagon Officials Withheld BRAC Data to Protect Proposals That Failed Legal Requirement” (119 pages, 4 MB PDF file).
A House Armed Services Subcommittee will hold a hearing on December 12 “on implementation of the Base Realignment and Closure 2005 decisions.”
DNA synthesis and export controls remain the primary regulatory safeguards against de novo production of harmful biological agents, yet governance frameworks lack the situational awareness and enforcement capacity to keep pace with rapidly falling technical barriers.
Called today to speak on behalf of U.S. science and technology, Dr. Jedidah Isler, astrophysicist, educator, strategist, policy-maker, and science communicator, will provide constructive, nonpartisan feedback to the House Committee’s hearing “American Global Competitiveness at 250: Legislative Proposals to Secure U.S. Technology Leadership.”
“Federal data and access to it is not a partisan issue. It is a people issue. Our country cannot achieve greatness without access to the data that measure what we value, who we are, and where we’re heading.”
The United States’ biosecurity governance system is structurally incapable of detecting and responding to certain classes of threats. U.S. biosecurity tools have not kept pace with technological advancements or a changing threat landscape.