The Honorable Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear Mr. Secretary:
You take responsibility for the nation’s defenses at a perilous time. Despite warnings from former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and the country’s senior military leaders about the disruptions that the mandatory budget reductions would do to the people, programs and operations of the U.S. defense system sequestration has been imposed on the Department of Defense. As you recognize these cuts will be especially severe because the DOD has been spending under a Continuing Budget Resolution so that the mandated fiscal year 2013 (FY13) reduction of $ 42.7 billion (7.95%) cut must be taken in the remaining seven months of this fiscal year. Your initial comments to the DOD community stressed the importance of the President and Congress working toward a new defense posture that provides predictable and stable financial resource to preserve the military capability the United States needs. We write to suggest an approach to achieving this critical objective.
Click here to view the full article.