Carter: Our Troops Deserve the Security of a Full Funding Bill

Statement

Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-Ga.) today voted against the dangerous short-term, stop-gap spending bill passed in the United States House of Representatives.

"We cannot continue this dangerous cycle of putting bandaids on our federal funding," said Carter. "With this vote today, we are simply kicking the can down the road yet again. This time, it's only for a few weeks.

"Failing to properly fund the federal government for a full year will take a toll on many, especially our military. After the recent training accident at Fort Stewart, this is completely unacceptable. Our troops need to be the most well prepared and well equipped force on the planet. It is our job in Washington to ensure they have the resources they need. Passing another CR will do the exact opposite and I cannot support it.

"For example, critical projects like the new hangar at Hunter Army Airfield cannot move forward until we have a funding bill in place. We must do our job to properly fund the government and end the constant cycle of these last minute, short-term spending bills. Our troops deserve the security of a full funding bill."

The Continuing Resolution (CR) passed in the House today would provide funding for the federal government through December 20, 2019.

A full-year CR has the potential to cause very serious damage to the United States Military (from the House Armed Services Committee):

-Military Personnel: In the wake of news reports of service members and their families living in
inadequate and dangerous family housing, the Army would be prevented from building 4,400 new dwellings and forced to delay repair on another 269 homes. Navy families' moves will be curtailed, bonuses and awards will be eliminated, and the overall size of the Navy will have to be reduced.
-Pilot Shortage: A year-long CR will put additional pressure on our Air Force pilots by perpetuating a critical pilot shortage.
-Ship Operations: Following the fatal accidents aboard the USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald that were attributed in part to training issues, a CR would force the Navy to cancel 14 ship maintenance periods, cancel ship underway training, and limit operations of the deployed Fleet.
-Navy Flying missions: A CR would cause the shutdown of non-deployed Navy aviation, limiting flight training in the US to only those units about to deploy.
-Munitions Shortage: The fight against al Qaeda and ISIS depends on precision guided
munitions. Obama-era spending cuts and repeated CRs forced the Army and Air Force to use these munitions faster than they could replace them, creating a critical shortage. A year-long CR would perpetuate this problem. It would significantly reduce the number of munitions the Air Force is able to buy in the next fiscal year.
-Disaster Recovery: Key military installations have been severely damaged by natural disasters in the past year. Funds urgently needed to repair these facilities so that they can resume their critical national security missions will not be available under a year-long CR.

Source