Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission Chairman Alan Dixon blasted arguments Friday that the Clinton administration is using to possibly reject its closure list.

The Washington Times reported that Clinton has decided to send the list back to the commission anyway and will suggest removal of McClellan Air Force Base, Calif. - which competed against Hill Air Force Base for survival and lost.That threatens Hill, because the commission could decide to close it instead, or one of two other so-far spared air logistics centers. It could also decide to keep all such bases open, which could take away missions going to Hill due to the closure of McClellan and Kelly Air Force Base, Texas.

Or it could repeat its recommendation to close McClellan and Kelly - and force Clinton to accept or reject the entire list without amendment. That would force Clinton to choose between upsetting California voters - who are key to his re-election - and losing all savings from base closures.

Clinton has argued that the closures hit California too hard and that McClellan is a high-quality facility that should be saved.

Dixon blasted those arguments in a press conference Friday - but left open the possibility that the commission could change its mind if the list is sent back.

"Was California hit the hardest? No. Guam was. It is losing 7.9 percent of its jobs," Dixon said.

"Was California hit the second hardest? No. Alabama and Alaska suffered a 0.4 percent job loss overall," he said.

"California tied for the third-worst job losses with Texas, North Dakota and Connecticut with a 0.3 percent loss of its jobs," he said.

Dixon added that the commission, General Accounting Office and even the secretary of the Army figured the Air Force was overestimating the cost to close air logistics centers and underestimating the savings from them.

"I am confident we made the right decision" to close McClellan and Kelly, which had the lowest military value ratings, Dixon said. He added that the commission did consider economic impact on communities but properly gave the greatest weight to military value.

If Clinton asks the commission to restore McClellan, Dixon said there "is some room for further review. But basically I think we have done the right thing."

While the Washington Times quoted unnamed sources saying Clinton will reject the list, White House spokesmen told the Deseret News that no formal decision has yet been made, and that the president will wait for a Defense Department review of the list after he formally receives it on Saturday.

The Pentagon, however, has already issued statements criticizing the proposed closure of McClellan.

The White House also gave the Deseret News the transcript of an interview Clinton had this week with the San Francisco Chronicle, where he hinted strongly he will reject the list.

"I'm concerned about the decision made by the base closing commission there," Clinton said, noting California had 20 percent of the defense facilities in the country but had suffered 40 percent of the cuts in earlier base closing rounds.

"Before I became president, I thought that was more than enough," he said. He added that the Pentagon did not recommend closing McClellan, and believed sufficient savings could come by keeping all air logistics centers open but reduced in size.

The Washington Times story also quoted unnamed sources from the closure commission saying the administration has told it that it will reject the list.

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However, commission spokesman Wade Nelson said all commissioners have said they have no idea what the administration will do.

While many members from California and Texas have been urging the president to reject the list - and predict political doom if he does not - members from other states have been writing letters protesting playing politics with the list.

Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, was among House members circulating a letter criticizing the president, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, was among senators sending a similar letter.

The letters noted that no other president has ever rejected a list from the independent base closure commission or even suggested changes. They worry doing so for apparently political reasons will cause Americans to lose faith in the process.

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