生物谷报道：据金融时报记者Demetri Sevastopulo在华盛顿报道，美国一个独立的五方提议评估机构，最近关闭了美国一家军事医院---华盛顿Walter Reed军事医院中心，这一家医院已经为士兵，政治家和总统服务了数十年。这家医院自从1909年便建立，总共接受治疗的在伊拉克战场上受伤士兵超过总人数的1/3。到9月8日，将提交最后的报告给布什总统通过，国外也将审议这一议案，但国会无权改变这一议案。
The independent commission evaluating Pentagon proposals to close military facilities across the US on Thursday sounded the death knell for Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, which has treated soldiers, politicians, and presidents for decades.
The Base Realignment and Closure [Brac] Commission voted to close Walter Reed and move its operations to the Bethesda Naval Medical Centre in nearby Maryland. The hospital, which opened in 1909, has treated almost a third of the more than 14,000 soldiers wounded in Iraq.
The Brac panel was on Thursday completing its second day of voting on proposals to complete a major overhaul of military facilities in the US. In May, the Pentagon recommended closing 33 major US military installations and restructuring 29 other large bases, in addition to closing and restructuring another 775 smaller installations.
The Pentagon estimates that the restructuring will save the military $50bn over 10 years, although the Government Accountability Office, the oversight arm of Congress, and some Brac commissioners have suggested that the potential savings will be lower.
Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, in May said the Brac round would help transform the military from a cold-war era force to one capable of fighting 21st-century threats, such as extremism. The US also plans to close overseas bases, in particular in South Korea and Germany, repatriating 70,000 troops.
On Wednesday, the Brac commission rejected Pentagon proposals to close two major installations in New England - the New London nuclear submarine base in Connecticut and the Portsmouth shipyard in Maine.
The Brac commission must submit its final recommendations by September 8 to President George W. Bush, who has previously said he would accept the commission's list. Congress must then decide whether to approve the recommendations, but cannot make any changes.
来源：http://news.ft.com/cms/s/35e80f50-157d-11da-8085-00000e2511c8.html
