Ayotte Comments on Defense Budget Briefing

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, released the following statement in reaction to today's briefing on the proposed Pentagon budget for Fiscal Year 2013:

"While the Secretary of Defense provided important new budget details during today's briefing, many questions remain about how to retain the military capabilities our national security interests require. We must not allow misguided defense cuts to add a national security crisis to our existing fiscal crisis. We need to have a full understanding about the risks that this budget could pose to our military readiness, including the Department's plan to dramatically reduce the number of ground forces by 92,000 soldiers and Marines.

"Rooting out waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon while eliminating duplicative military programs remain a top priority for me. I also agree with the Secretary about the need to reduce personnel costs, but we also must ensure our brave service members don't suffer simply because of Washington's lack of political courage to make tough decisions on the true drivers of our debt. I will closely examine the department's proposed personnel policies to ensure that we don't break faith with those who have sacrificed so much.

"At the same time, I share Secretary Panetta's concerns that defense sequestration would 'inflict severe damage to our national defense for generations.' That's why I'm working with my colleagues to prevent arbitrary cuts from occurring by identifying appropriate alternative cuts in other areas of the federal budget.

"I will scrutinize the Pentagon's full budget request when it is released, and I look forward to further discussing the budget proposal with Secretary Panetta and Pentagon leaders in the coming weeks to ensure that national security interests guide our defense spending decisions."

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