Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has told the Senate’s defense appropriations subcommittee that Pentagon and industry partners need a solid, long-term funding structure to innovate, DoD News reported Wednesday.
“Over the past three fiscal years the Defense Department has taken more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars in cuts to its future-years defense spending,†he told the subcommittee during a hearing Wednesday.
He noted some lawmakers have sought to transfer funds from the DoD base budget for fiscal 2016 into the department’s overseas contingency operations account, according to the report.
Carter added to senators at the hearing that he believes a one-year budgeting approach is “managerially unsound” and called on Congress to explore alternatives.
He was also quoted as saying that he is open to collaborating with members of Congress to address U.S. budgetary concerns.
“I hope we can come together for a longer-term, multi-year agreement that provides the budget stability we need by locking in defense and nondefense budget levels consistent with the president’s request.”
