Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on Secretary Gates' Proposal for Defense Budget Reform
Statement
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on Secretary Gates' Proposal for Defense Budget Reform
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold released the following statement today in response to Defense Secretary Robert Gates' announced effort to reform the budget for the Department of Defense.
"I applaud Secretary Gates' effort to tackle the difficult challenge of reforming the defense budget. There is broad agreement that our current defense budget is overly focused on hypothetical future threats at the expense of addressing today's real-world threats. Our $295 billion budget overrun for our major acquisition programs is not only fiscally reckless, but it compromises our ability to get our troops the equipment they need for current operations. Secretary Gates has made some of the tough decisions needed to scale back our most high risk programs to ensure that we are investing in proven technologies.
"While I commend Secretary Gates for shifting the focus of the defense budget to ensure adequate resources that are necessary to, among other things, combat terrorism, we must carefully review proposals to expand elements of our Armed Forces to operate outside of declared war zones. An overreliance on the military can be counterproductive in our efforts to defeat al Qaeda. I stand ready to support Secretary Gates and the Obama administration with this effort."
During the Senate Budget Committee's consideration of the fiscal year 2010 budget, Senator Feingold, along with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), successfully included an amendment to reduce wasteful defense spending by redirecting $100 million in funding toward reform efforts such as recovering erroneous payments to contractors and restructuring acquisition programs that are at high risk of failing. Among the programs Secretary Gates recommended cutting are the F-22 fighter aircraft and the airborne laser, both of which Senator Feingold has proposed discontinuing in the past.
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