[For a countervailing statement from the Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith, click here.]
WASHINGTON- House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon issued the following statement in response to the Obama administration’s report to Congress under the Sequestration Transparency Act:
“Bottom line – the Administration failed to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law. Not only was it late, but the report OMB submitted to Congress today pays lip service to the dire national security implications of these cuts after a year to consider this crisis, I can’t understand why they needed an extra week to produce such an inadequate report.”
“The report does reveal a shocking lack of planning on the part of a White House that brought sequester to the table in the first place. America’s military leaders needed eight months to adjust our military posture in response to the President’s direction to cut over $400 billion from defense. With just over 3 months until a second half-trillion dollars in cuts are imposed, no proposal from the President to avert them, and no predictability on how OMB will apply the cuts – the Commander in Chief appears to be willing to leave the military without either resources or strategy.”
“More than anything, this report indicates how vital Presidential leadership will be in averting these cuts. House Republicans have passed a plan to resolve sequestration. Indeed we have voted five times in support of finding a solution. I understand that President Obama and Senator Reid don’t like our plan, but that is not an excuse for them not to offer one of their own.”
