The House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee has listened to testimony from Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey about the administration’s proposed fiscal 2016 budget, DoD News reported Wednesday.
Claudette Roulo writes Carter said Wednesday the budget offers the Defense Department a path forward to better execute missions and that any bill that keeps intact sequester cuts would affect national security and cost-saving initiatives.
“It’s not even that these cuts solve the nation’s overall fiscal challenges — because the sad math is that they are large and sudden enough to damage defense but fail to resolve our long-term fiscal issues and the real drivers of the deficit and debt,â€Â he told the subcommittee.
He also urged Congress to allow the department to implement changes in order to save money amid the fiscal uncertainty, according to Roulo’s article.
Gen. Dempsey echoed Carter’s call for a departmental reform and an end to sequestration, according to a separate DoD News story by Jim Garamone.
Dempsey also noted at the meeting the potential impact that defense spending cuts will have on the U.S.’ threat response strategy and on the long-term objectives of the military.
“Conflicts will take longer to resolve and will be more costly in both dollars and in casualties,†he told the subcommittee.
