Defense Experts: End Sequestration Now

Eighty men and women with expertise in national security have signed an open letter to House and Senate leaders to end the spending limits required by the Budget Control Act and adequately fund the military so it can address threats around the globe.

Former defense secretaries, retired generals, former senators and House members and other defense experts, including one governor, released their letter today. It is addressed to Representative John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House speaker, Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, D-Nevada, the Senate minority leader, and Representative Nancy Pelosi, D-California, the House minority leader.

The letter is signed by former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, and others with backgrounds in defense. The letter is the product of the Foreign Policy Initiative, a nonprofit organization promoting U.S. engagement in the world.

The letter says, “The trillion dollars of defense spending cuts required by the Budget Control Act and sequestration present a grave and growing danger to our national security. Even as threats intensify across the globe, these cuts are undermining the readiness of our forces today and investment in the critical capabilities they will need tomorrow.”

It asks Congress to adopt a budget for fiscal 2016 that is “significantly greater” than what the president has requested. The signers of the letter support the recommendation of the National Defense Panel to repeal the Budget Control Act. The panel was created by Congress and warned last year of a “hollow force.”

The letter continues, “You have each expressed your opposition to the needless harm that the Budget Control Act and sequestration are inflicting on our Armed Forces. You now have an opportunity to end it.”

– Taken from the February 24 issue of the NGAUS Washington Report, a weekly e-newsletter