By Congressman Michael Turner Weekly Column In August of this year, Congress approved and the President signed, the Budget Control Act of 2011. This law, which I opposed, created a Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction empowered to find budget savings of $1.2 trillion in order to increase the debt limit to $17 trillion. If the ”supercommittee,” comprised of a bipartisan number of House and Senate Members, failed then sequestration cuts would be put in place. These draconian cuts were to act as a deterrent to the supercommittee failing to complete its task. With the failure of the supercommittee, sequestration cuts will have serious implications for our national security. Specifically, Defense Department funding will be subject to $500 billion in cuts. As a nation, we should be able to provide for our defense and balance our budget. One should not come at the expense of the other. That’s why I could not vote to raise the debt limit at the expense of our men and women in uniform.
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By Congressman Michael Turner Weekly Column

In August of this year, Congress approved and the President signed, the Budget Control Act of 2011.  This law, which I opposed, created a Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction empowered to find budget savings of $1.2 trillion in order to increase the debt limit to $17 trillion.  If the ”supercommittee,” comprised of a bipartisan number of House and Senate Members, failed then sequestration cuts would be put in place.  These draconian cuts were to act as a deterrent to the supercommittee failing to complete its task. With the failure of the supercommittee, sequestration cuts will have serious implications for our national security.  Specifically, Defense Department funding will be subject to $500 billion in cuts.  As a nation, we should be able to provide for our defense and balance our budget.  One should not come at the expense of the other.  That’s why I could not vote to raise the debt limit at the expense of our men and women in uniform.

Furthermore, the impacts to Ohio, home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, will not be felt lightly.  Across Ohio estimates show that over 1,000 uniformed service members are set to lose their jobs, while over 6,000 Defense Department civilian personnel could lose theirs.  Although the cuts don’t become official until January of 2013, the Defense Department must begin drawing down personnel immediately in order to meet their targets by that date.  Our service members, civilian personnel and their families cannot wait while Congress plays chicken with these cuts to our nation’s defense.

After learning of the potential effects to Wright-Patt and our local economy, I invited House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon to tour the base with me.  As a fellow member of the Committee, I understand the benefit of on-site visits to key bases like Wright-Patt.  During the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, I brought then-Chairman Duncan Hunter to visit the base.  In the midst of the ongoing BRAC discussions, Senator Ted Kennedy flew into Dayton and tried to take jobs back to Massachusetts.  Chairman Hunter’s visit validated the importance of Wright-Patt and I was able to ensure that jobs did not leave our community on a plane with Senator Kennedy.

During our visit to Wright-Patt this past Saturday, Chairman McKeon and I toured the base’s facilities, including the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and Unmanned Aerial Systems development at the Air Force Research Lab.  The base is home to over 27,000 employees and covers over 11 square miles of land. As the single largest site employer in the state of Ohio, it is an economic engine for our community and is at the forefront of securing our nation’s security.  Our visit to the base helped highlight those facts for the Chairman.

Before his visit to the base, Chairman McKeon said:

“Over half of deficit reduction efforts so far have come out of America's military.  If we are unable to mitigate these sequestration cuts, our armed forces will contribute over a trillion dollars to deficit reduction, more than any other single sector of our government.  These cuts come not because the threats to our freedom have reduced or because the world has become a safer place, but because Washington has put math ahead of strategy.” 

We must be mindful of those facts as we move ahead in finding ways to offset the effects of the supercommittee’s failure.  President Obama has already asked the Department of Defense to shoulder $460 billion in cuts.  Another $500 billion would put our national defense and Wright-Patt in uncharted territory.