Hon. Sir John Swan said yesterday.

The Premier leaves today for talks with top military officials in Washington, DC and Norfolk, Virginia.

Congress "left a door open'' for further military involvement at the Civil Air Terminal when it recently passed the Defence Authorisation Bill, Sir John told The Royal Gazette last night.

"Whether the Navy will utilise it or not, that's what I want to determine,'' he said.

Accompanying the Premier for the "exploratory'' talks are Deputy Premier the Hon. Irving Pearman and Cabinet Secretary Mr. Leopold Mills.

The recently-passed Defence Authorisation Bill said no Department of Defence funds were to be spent on the Base after September 1, 1995. And the Secretary of Defence was to submit a closure plan by next March.

But the Bill also said that any Department of Defence airfield support after September 1, 1995 would be "on a reimbursable basis''.

"The legislative decision has been made,'' Sir John said. "The Navy has obviously been discussing what they are going to do.

"What we want to do is to meet with them to find out what their planning process is all about and what they have in mind.

"It's all to determine as realistically as possible what the Americans are now planning to submit back to the Congress in February.'' The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which recently spent millions on a new hangar and runway at the Base, would also be brought "into the picture,'' Sir John said.

The Bermuda delegation is to meet with US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Frank Kelso at the Pentagon tomorrow morning, then move to Norfolk for talks with Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, Admiral Paul Miller in the afternoon.

The delegation is to return to Bermuda on Wednesday afternoon.

The talks were "at a critical stage,'' Sir John said. "I'm hopeful that something can be worked out that minimises the impact on Bermuda.'' Meanwhile, the Committee for the Independence of Bermuda said yesterday the Premier's trip to London last week for the Dependent Territories Conference highlighted "Bermuda's need for leadership on our Constitutional development.'' Bermuda did not need to cling to Great Britain for financial or defence reasons, like some territories did, Mr. Dale Butler said in a news release.

"Premier Swan recognised that Bermuda's position is quite different than that of other colonies; he also appreciates that our future economic livelihood rests in North America and not in Europe,'' Mr. Butler said.

However, Bermuda faced only two choices -- integration with the United Kingdom or a move toward Independence, he said. "It seems increasingly likely that after Hong Kong is returned to China in 1997 -- and Bermuda remains the largest British colony -- this will be the set of options presented to us.

"We need leadership now on this issue and not occasional soundbites for public consumption.''