McKeon: Saving defense from defense savings

Yesterday, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered remarks at the Heritage Foundation reminding us that even as federal spending comes under long overdue scrutiny in Washington DC, it would be a catastrophic mistake to throw our armed forces onto the chopping block given the burdens they are shouldering to keep us safe in these dangerous times.

And on the chopping block they will be if President Obama has his way.  The President is proposing cuts in defense spending to the tune of $400 billion through fiscal year 2023, going far beyond cuts sought by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

But as Chairman McKeon pointed out, asking our men and women in uniform to take on even more with even less is unconscionable:

"I commend the President for his leadership on the Bin Laden operation. But his leadership in other key areas has been scarce. It’s my sense that White House defense decisions are putting this great Republic on the fast track for decline. The logic has been simply baffling to me: expand our military commitments while cutting our armed forces.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a recipe for disaster and decline."

And just how bad are the President’s proposals?

"As Commander-in-Chief, President Obama should share my concern about staving off American decline. If he does, they are not reflected in his policies. As we prosecute three tough wars in the Middle East and humanitarian relief in Japan, as we rely on weapon systems long past their prime, as we learn about new threats to our way of life daily, President Obama has announced plans to shrink our military that can only be described as historic.

Twenty major weapon systems have been cut since he took office. More are on the chopping block. We anticipate losing thousands of soldiers and Marines – that one really concerns me. The Navy’s fleet is almost half of what it was twenty years ago. The Air Force is flying airplanes with an average age of thirty years.

With equipment that is falling apart and a war entering its tenth year, the strain on the troops -our most precious resource– can only be described as severe."

As Chairman McKeon acknowledges, there will likely be cost savings that can be reasonably implemented at the Department of Defense.  But to the extent that such savings are identified, they should be put right back into defending the nation, not redirected towards social programs and pet rocks:

"Cutting military items wholesale, given the challenges I’ve laid out, is irresponsible and dangerous. But let’s be honest, in a five hundred and thirty billion dollar defense budget, there’s going to be room for some savings. The Pentagon is going to need to do some housecleaning. That’s just the fiscal reality that we’re facing.

But, any savings that are identified by the Defense Department must go back into defense. Not to health care, not to social security, not to cowboy poetry — that’s a real one, by the way-and not to any other pet project the Obama Administration deems a higher priority than our security."

Our troops have made a commitment to us to put themselves in harm’s way to defend our nation.  Chairman McKeon deserves enormous credit for his efforts to ensure that we honor our commitment to them.  As we enter defense authorization season on Capitol Hill, let’s hope Congress and the President follow his lead.

Read the Chairman’s full remarks here.