February 28, 2013

Opening Statement of Chairman Turner WASHINGTON— The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces held a hearing today on Impacts of a Continuing Resolution and Sequestration on Acquisition, Programming and the Industrial base. Subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner made the following opening statement as prepared for delivery: The Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee meets today in open session to receive testimony on the impacts of Sequestration and the Continuing Resolution on Acquisition, Programming, and the Industrial Base. This hearing continues the committee's extensive oversight and detailed examination of the harmful impacts of the continuing resolution and Sequestration on the military's ability to protect national security interests of our Nation. We've already heard very candid testimony from the military service chiefs during the full committee hearing on February 13th of how these forced budget cuts would be devastating to military training and force readiness. General Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated, "We built a strategy last year that we said we could execute and absorb $487 billion. I can't sit here today and guarantee you that if you take another $175 billion that that strategy remains solvent....What do you want your military to do? If you want it to be doing what it's doing today, then we can't give you another dollar." Today, we plan to leverage the information gained from that hearing and provide our Members with the opportunity to gain a better understanding of how the "CR" and Sequestration would impact defense acquisition programs, projects, and activities and their associated industrial bases around the country. One of the most tragic aspects of our current situation is that sequestration was never supposed to happen and there were numerous opportunities to avoid it. By laying out the details of the impacts of sequestration, the Department of Defense could have helped us in our education campaign to avoid the catastrophic cuts we are now facing. On the eve of sequester, it is my hope that this hearing will aid to provide greater clarity concerning the details and levels of risk that will be associated with the arbitrary cuts mandated by Sequestration on all major defense acquisition programs, including how these severe reductions will impact local communities, small businesses, and ultimately the military's ability in meeting the national military strategy. These details will help to illustrate the depths of these impacts and help us make our case to Congress and the nation. Ironically, the sequestration conversation has been seated in a context of savings and tiscal austerity. However, it seems apparent that allowing these cuts to take place could ultimately cost our country more than it saves while, simultaneously, costing jobs. Second and third tier vendors, mostly small businesses, will be affected if these cuts are enacted, many of which are referred to as "single points of failure" vendors, meaning only one company is qualified to provide a particular part, and once that capability is lost it will take significant capital and time to regain that capability. This, in turn, will put people out of work and dramatically drive up cost. We need to be assured that the Department and the military services are conducting the appropriate level of analysis to assess the impact of Sequester on the industrial base. For example, the Army indicates that every procurement program would be affected; quantities would be reduced by 10 to 15 percent, and that these mandated sequester reductions affect more than 1,000 companies in more than 40 states. For the Army alone, over 3,000 vendors will be affected. The Army has stated the total economic impact would be approximately $15.4 billion; the Marine Corps $2.4 billion; the Navy is over $20.0 billion. I witness the devastating effects of these reductions each time I return home. My community in Southwest Ohio includes Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the home of the Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Research Laboratories. Recent information provided by the Air Force has indicated that over 14 thousand civilian employees at the base face potential furloughs. The base provides cutting edge research and development as well as real time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that enhances the lethality and survivability of our warfighters in harm's way. Every state is going to be impacted by sequestration. As I've stated before, I voted against the Budget Control Act because I knew we would be here today discussing these types of harsh consequences that I just covered, and I have been working aggressively with my colleagues on this committee and Department of Defense to do everything we can to avert these catastrophic effects on our national security. ###