U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins are continuing their fight to keep the commissary in the Brunswick-Topsham area to serve more than 10,000 active duty military, Guardsmen, reservists, retirees, and their families.
Today, Senators Snowe and Collins sent a letter to Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness, requesting a response to their previous correspondence in May and June in which they asked him to retain a commissary in the region and urged him not to close any commissary stores until DOD has completed a revision of its guidance documents. A recent study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), requested by Senators Snowe and Collins, revealed that the criteria used by the Department of Defense (DOD) to determine when commissaries are closed “are not clear,” and that DOD should clarify its guidance. A copy of the letter to Under Secretary Stanley is attached.
“Over the past year, we have sought a dialogue with you to address the continued operation of the commissary through pragmatic and thoughtful approaches, and we hope that you will offer us an opportunity to discuss these proposals and the future of the commissary before rendering a final decision on the fate of the store,” wrote the Senators. The letter also reiterates that no action may be taken to violate a provision in last year’s annual defense policy bill that prohibits the Department from closing the store until 60 days after a final determination has been made. Finally, the letter requests that Dr. Stanley, “give due consideration to our recommendation that no commissary stores be closed until you have revised DoD Instruction 1330.17, and to our proposal for an ‘enhanced commissary store’ pilot program.”
Earlier this week, Senators Snowe and Collins, along with Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2012 Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs Appropriations Act that would have prohibited the Department of Defense from closing any commissary until DoD revised its guidelines. Unfortunately, the Senate did not take up the amendment for consideration.
BACKGROUND: The commissary at Topsham was originally scheduled to close in March of this year, but the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, which became law on January 7, 2011, required the Secretary of Defense to review the GAO report released by the Senators today before making a decision on the future of the stores. Under the law, the stores must remain open until at least 60 days after the Secretary renders a decision, meaning that the stores now must remain open beyond the September 15, 2011 date originally cited as the earliest possible closure target.
The letter can be read here.