WASHINGTON — On Tuesday on Capitol Hill, the Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on the impact of sequestration on national security and the economy. The committee was chaired by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., but Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, was the ranking member of the Republican caucus.
In his opening remarks, Sessions gave a scathing critique of President Barack Obama for his failure to lead and prevent the economic and national security shortfalls of sequestration.
“We got a difficult situation and we’re not having any leadership,” Sessions said. “I’m beginning to wonder if the president isn’t quite happy to see the Defense Department to take this much [in] cuts. If he was sincerely worried about it, why isn’t he providing more leadership to confront it? I know a lot of his supporters are quite happy to see the Defense Department to take these cuts.”
As he went on to point out, U.S. defense spending has decreased dramatically under Obama as a percentage of gross domestic product, and further cuts are planned over the next decade.
“So now, even before one considers the impact of sequestration, we have defense spending that is lower as a share of the budget and as a share of the economy than it has been in the past,” Sessions explained. “It is continuing to go lower. As a share of the federal budget, just 17 percent of federal spending will go to defense this year. Just 50 years ago, defense spending made up 46 percent of all federal spending. As a share of the economy, spending on defense will average 3 percent over the next 10 years, which is down from the post-World War II average of 7 percent. By FY 2023, the last year of the President’s budget, defense spending as a percent of GDP will hit a post-World War II low of 2.4 percent.”
Sessions lobbied his colleagues to find a resolution to sequestration going forward.
“As we move forward, let’s work together to stave off this unwise level of cuts to defense spending,” he added. “It is important that we hold to the reasonable reductions in the rate of spending growth as set forth in the Budget Control Act, however. Congress should modify the mechanism to ensure shared sacrifices. Too many agencies were not required to tighten their belts at all. They were allowed to continue to grow without restraint.”
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