Cornyn: Defense Cuts Would Be 'Arbitrary And Reckless'

By Adrianna McGinley

At the Hudson Institute Wednesday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned that sequestration following a possible supercommittee failure would have a disastrous impact on national security.

“I worry that our strategic thinking is being driven by dollars and cents more than common sense,” Cornyn said. “If this process fails, and I hope and pray it does not, then … the base defense budget would be cut 14 percent in real terms over just three years.”

Cornyn cited that the sequestration cuts would be in addition to $489 billion in defense cuts under the Budget Control Act and roughly $180 billion of efficiency cuts recommended by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“This should really be a time for rebuilding and retraining and not retreating,” Cornyn advised. “But retreat is the only way to describe what would happen if our military forces are required to live under this sequestration process.”

Cornyn said military leadership is trained not to panic, but “you can hear their frustration and you can hear grave concern in their voices that America’s strategic commitments are being defined not by the requirements but by budgets. They’re frustrated that under the sequestration process the cuts would be arbitrary and reckless.”

The Senator said however that concerns over how the Pentagon spends money should not be disregarded. Rather waste, fraud, and abuse should be aggressively fought. He specifically alluded to financial mismanagement at the Department of Defense citing that it has not been able to produce an “auditable financial statement,” and although the department is not required to do so until 2017, he said it was “shocking” that it could not do so now.

Cornyn joked that the twelve members of the “Super Committee” have more power than any group of Americans since those who wrote the constitution and said they must make use of that power.

“Failure really should not be an option,” Cornyn said. “What would it say to not only the American people…what would it say to the markets, what would it say to the world about America’s seriousness of dealing with these problems?”

Armed Services Chair: No Defense Cuts And No Tax Increases

By Adrianna McGinley

In a press conference Thursday, Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee announced the recommendations they’ll make to the Congressional supercommittee, primarily their desire to see no further defense cuts.

Armed Services Committee Chairman, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), said defense has already taken more than enough cuts and no more will be accepted.

“One of the things we heard was that everything should be on the table, and while many of us on the Armed Services Committee didn’t agree with that, we understood where the American people were,” McKeon said. “I personally, and I think many members of the committee, feel that we have gone overboard on the cuts…defense was on the table, and in the first round, it took up half of the table.”

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said more cuts would put the military in a position of having to choose where to engage and where not, putting national security at risk.

“I don’t think the American people understand, and they need to, what these defense cuts mean,” Hunter said. 

Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) pointed out the effect cuts would have on the average American, saying if more cuts are implemented, using conservative estimates, there would be job losses exceeding the number of unemployed people in 13 different states combined.

When asked if tax increases would be accepted in place of defense cuts, McKeon said, “there is no one here who would vote for tax increases.” He added, “I don’t think it’s our job on this committee to do the super committee’s work of solving their problem … I don’t need to help them and try to give them ideas.”

Standing committees are set to formally present recommendations to the super committee tomorrow.

Florida Republican Calls For Stronger Military, Strategic Clarity

By Philip Bunnell

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Tuesday that the nation’s military strategy lacks clarity and pushed for a stronger military moving forward.

West raised many concerns with American military strategy and objectives. The War on Terror, West said, is “a terrible misnomer, because a nation cannot go and fight a tactic.”

“What has to be presented for us to be successful on this 21st century battlefield is an understanding of who are we fighting against,” he said. 

West warned against “narrowly defining yourself [because] then you create gaps by which you can be exploited.” West spoke of “strategic vision,” and the ability to recognize threats as important to the 21st century battlefield.

“We need to do a better job of getting the word out,” said West, blaming the media for focusing too much on American follies. “I see most stories about us doing things, like Abu Gharaib… than I do about the bad things that the enemy is doing.”  West added that he was concerned about the media becoming an “ideological-political wing.”

West seemed skeptical of the prospects of the Arab Spring and the Obama administration’s strategy in the Middle East. 

“No one can tell me who these [Libyan] rebels are, where they come from, what do they seek to have, what are they going to bring to the table that’s different from Muammar Gaddafi,” said West.  “I am very concerned over what is happening in Egypt because the story has not been told yet,” he said voicing specific concern over the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Florida Republican added that the up-and-down military spending during the 20th century is not a good roadmap. West said that after each of the World Wars, American military spending “fell into a bottomless pit,” and that if spending is not stable, “we will lose an opportunity to ensure that we protect America for the future.”