Scott Statement on FY2015 Defense Budget Preview
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on yesterday's preview by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel of the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2015 budget:
"Secretary Chuck Hagel's Defense budget preview highlights the budget quagmire we have gotten ourselves into by prioritizing unaffordable tax cuts over addressing sequestration. The recently passed Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 only alleviated the impacts of sequestration for two years and, as the Secretary pointed out, if full sequestration funding reductions return in 2016, the consequences will be dire for military readiness. I am most concerned with the Secretary's statement that if sequestration is not fully addressed the Department will have to seriously consider retiring the George Washington, which would cancel her midlife refueling and overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding. I am also concerned that the Department is requesting changes to military compensation and reducing the federal contribution to military commissaries, which may have serious impacts on troop morale, retention, and recruitment.
"Like every agency and department in the federal government, the Department of Defense has been forced to make difficult decisions and has been able to achieve significant savings that will not necessarily harm readiness. However, as so many experts have pointed out, the further reductions that will be required if sequestration is not fully addressed will be catastrophic not just for the Defense Department, but for every other critical function of government. We can blame the Secretary for pointing out what these tough choices are, but it is incumbent on Congress to seriously consider new revenues and revisiting the 2013 fiscal cliff deal. That deal made it all but impossible to fully cancel sequestration without significant and unpopular cuts, such as those currently being proposed, to Defense, Social Security, Medicare and other vital functions of government."
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