'Bias' Against Leased Defense Facilities Denied

"That bias is not on the part of the commission," Principi said. "That's the recommendation of the Defense Department, not the commission."

Speaking to reporters after the day-long hearing, Principi said commissioners strongly supported Pentagon moves to protect military and civilian defense workers from terrorist and other attacks, but he suggested that leased buildings could be secure.

"We saw what happened in Oklahoma City," Principi said, referring to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people. "We want to be sure when we house civilian employees in this day and age, in a war on terrorism, that they're in safe locations. That could be in a leased facility, and that could be behind a fence" on a base, he said.

Virginia officials welcomed Principi's remarks.

"It's very encouraging," said Davis, who testified yesterday along with Moran and Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D). "It's the first time we've heard that definitively from the commission."

Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was more cautious. He said officials would continue to argue that the commission would violate the law if it fast-tracked closures of rented facilities for security reasons, instead of leaving leasing decisions to the defense secretary, as is the norm.

"I sleep with one eye open until this thing is finished," said Warner, who helped write the law guiding five rounds of national base closings and whose office has submitted legal briefs outlining a potential challenge to the commission's actions.

The commission will begin drafting the final list of base closures Aug. 24 and present it to President Bush Sept. 8. The president and Congress must accept or reject the list in full.