Dear Friends,
This past summer, Congress took serious steps toward addressing the nation’s skyrocketing national debt. After weeks of tough negotiations, we reached an agreement that would begin to take us in the right direction – cutting over $900 billion immediately and forming a Super Committee to find an additional $1.2 trillion in cuts.
In an effort to force the Super Committee to act, the agreement said that if the committee failed, a devastating “sequester” would go into effect that would automatically cut nearly $500 billion from defense. As we all know by now, the Super Committee failed. While it was never meant to occur, sequestration has been triggered and is set to deliver a devastating and dangerous cut to our nation’s defense capabilities next January. That simply cannot be allowed to happen.
Just this past week, we held a hearing in the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to discuss budget cuts with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff General Dempsey. General Dempsey has served our nation in the military for 38 years. During the hearing, he told us that this is the most dangerous time of his lifetime. General Dempsey knows what he is talking about, and we should heed his words. Now is not the time to gut the Department of Defense.
We need to cut spending, no doubt about it. But with this sequester, we are not talking about shutting down an insolvent national park or consolidating redundant government programs – we are talking about our national security, our ability to defend ourselves. You can be sure that I intend stand up for our national security and make this right.
Sincerely,
Kay Granger
Member of Congress