U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, today wrote, once again, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to urge them to immediately bring to the Senate floor a funding bill that provides the Department of Defense with the resources it needs to sustain current operations and readiness and to prepare to meet future challenges.
The current Continuing Resolution (CR) that is funding the government expires on Friday, March 4, and Senator Collins is concerned that continuing to operate on a CR or significantly reduced spending would severely impact military operations and readiness, service members and their families, and could threaten jobs in defense-related industries. The Congressional Research Service confirmed that an extension of a "clean" CR will result in insufficient funding for military personnel budgets and defense health programs.
During last week's visit to Bath Iron Works with Senator Collins, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead said that the "lack of a final budget for the military could undermine the Navy's shipbuilding plans," including the Virginia-class attack submarine program and the DDG-51 program.
"We have an obligation to make sure our military has what it needs," said Senator Collins. "Senators on both sides of the aisle need to come together to provide our men and women in uniform the resources they need to accomplish what is asked of them. I urge Leader Read and Leader McConnell to bring the Fiscal Year 2011 defense funding bill to the Senate floor as soon as possible so we can ensure that our servicemen and women have the resources needed to carry out their vital missions."
At a Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing today, Senator Collins raised this issue with Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn and Undersecretary of Defense Robert Hale. Senator Collins, along with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), originally wrote to Senate leaders on February 3 urging immediate consideration of an adequately funded FY 2011 Defense Appropriations bill rather than funding the Department of Defense through a year-long CR.
The full text of the letter Senator Collins' sent today is below: