Press Releases

Dear Friend-

Passing Continuing Resolutions has become the norm in Washington for the past eight years. As global threats are increasing, our defense budget stands still. We continue to ask more and more of our men and women in uniform, and we in Congress must do our part to ensure they have the tools they need to be successful.

Despite the damage that CRs bring to our national defense and security, Congress just recently voted on yet another three-month short-term CR, which will fund our government through Dec. 8 but continue to hamstring our military in the process. I wrote an op-ed that was published in the Richmond Times Dispatch explaining how these short-term funding measures have been, and will continue to be, detrimental to our military and its readiness.

The full article is pasted below.

Please do not hesitate to contact me anytime an issue that concerns you comes before the House, especially if it concerns defense and national security.

It's an honor to serve you and Virginia's First District in the People's House.

Sincerely,

Rob




Rob Wittman column: Congressional irresponsibility is wrecking the military. That has to stop.
September 23, 2017
By Rob Wittman
The Constitution clearly outlines the responsibilities for Congress and its duties for the national defense, specifically to “raise an army” and to “build and maintain a navy.” Congress accomplishes these duties by budgeting and properly funding our armed forces — but properly funding and budgeting our military does not mean passing Continuing Resolutions (CRs).

Passing CRs has become the norm in Washington for the past eight years. A CR keeps last year’s funding the same until a budget can eventually be passed. In addition to stagnant funding, a CR does not allow for new starts of programs, maintenance contracts, end strength increases, or even the money to simply transfer military members and their families from duty station to duty station. The armed services simply cannot budget. We would never expect a corporation, small business, or even a household to operate like this, yet we have continued to ask our military to do this year after year. CRs have sent the signal to our military to continue to do more with less and to operate in uncertainty.

Every day our global threats are increasing. North Korea continues to grow more provocative and dangerous in its quest to successfully launch a nuclear missile, creating instability in the Asia-Pacific region; Russia and Iran continue to create instability in their regions; we are still engaged in defeating the Islamic State, and global terror threats remain very real. However, our defense budget stands still. We continue to ask more and more of our men and women in uniform, while at the same time refusing to provide the resources they need to do their jobs. This is unsustainable.

In fact, in a letter to Congress, Secretary of Defense Mattis outlined the damage the current CR will do to the U.S. military. The damage includes:

Navy and Marine Corps: Eleven ships will remain at sea without needed repairs, because the CR prevents critical maintenance. This will force others to deploy with insufficient training, and slow the Navy’s ability to repair other ships in 2018. At a time when half of all naval aircraft cannot fly, the Navy will be forced to exacerbate its readiness crisis by cutting flight training time for pilots.

Air Force: The Air Force is short more than 1,000 pilots. Under a CR it will not be able to stand up F-16 training squadrons essential to getting new pilots in the air, further reducing the pool of properly trained pilots.

Despite the damage that CRs bring to our national defense and security, Congress just recently voted on yet another three-month short-term CR, which will fund our government through Dec. 8 but continue to hamstring our military in the process. After continuous warnings from our naval officers about its direct negative effects, this CR was something I could not support — and as I have done with every CR in the past, I voted against it.

Passing CRs is a short-term solution to a long-term problem and, quite simply, an abdication of Congress’ duties and responsibilities. Moving forward, Congress must do better for our military and for our men and women in uniform and we must do our part to ensure they have the tools they need to be successful. Going into Fiscal Year 2018 we have a chance to get back to regular order in the budget process, and I remain committed to providing a path of fiscal certainty for our armed services. It’s our job. It’s our duty.