Properly funding our military is one of Congress’ most important jobs and critical in keeping our homeland safe and ensuring our country’s readiness.
People across the globe look to the United States for leadership when it comes to our military. But our prestige as the world’s most dominant military will be in danger if Congress doesn’t do more to ensure our military remains strong.
On the Armed Services Committee, my focus continues to be strengthening our national defense. Recently, I was selected to serve as a key negotiator on discussions between the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act.
From my perspective, you can’t win a war if you don’t have the best equipment to fight a war.
Back home, the Anniston Army Depot is one of the most efficient maintenance and repair facilities in the entire military. I was pleased about two amendments included in the House-passed version of the Defense bill that would help protect jobs at facilities like the Anniston Army Depot.
You may have seen on the news recently the Army announced cuts in the active duty military due to the relentless defense budget cuts imposed by President Obama.
From his first day in office, Obama has sought to cut funding for our national defense. From the push for sequestration to his current veto threats of defense authorization and appropriations, these actions are threatening the creation of a shell of a military to face our very real threats in this dangerous world.
Another area we must focus on is new, non-traditional threats. Not all our enemies are on the land, air or sea. Space is the next battlefield. Assured access to space and the pressing national security issue of reliance on foreign rocket capabilities is one of my top priorities. We cannot ignore this because of the very important role space plays in our national security.
Representative Mike Rogers represents Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District
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