{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=702d697c-e0ee-441a-9515-fe7952c8b8c4", "Flawed Eielson F-16 Proposal Suggests Sequestration Driving Military Strategy", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.13.13\n\t\t\t Flawed Eielson F-16 Proposal Suggests Sequestration Driving Military Strategy \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tSenator Questions Strategy When Making Cuts - \u201cWhat is the Target Here?\u201d\r\nLower 48 Mayor Agrees With Need for Discretion When Seeking Savings\r\nWASHINGTON, DC \u2014 Senator Lisa Murkowski today seized an opportunity during a Capitol Hill hearing to continue pressing for agencies to have discretion when making mandatory, across-the-board sequestration cuts \u2013 using the example of the recently-scuttled proposal to transfer F-16 aircraft from Eielson AFB to Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson.\u00a0 Calling it an \u201ceye opener,\u201d Murkowski lamented the fact that the cuts are driving strategy instead of the other way around.\r\nDuring a Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing focused on \u201cSequestration Impacts on Defense Programs,\u201d Senator Murkowski began with an opening statement focusing on the flawed reasoning of the United States Air Force proposal, forced upon them by the blind cuts imposed by sequestration on all programs.\u00a0 \u201cAre we really working towards a strategy, or is the strategy being driven by sequestration,\u201d asked Murkowski, before reminding her Senate colleagues that this transfer proposal had been made amid a heightened Pentagon focus on the Pacific region, closing with \u201cDon\u2019t you need to have these assets here?\u201d\r\n(Eielson was \u201ca real eye opener for us.\u201d \u2013 Click image to watch except cited below. Click here to see Murkowski share how the Eielson proposal originated.)\r\nExcerpt:\r\n\u201cIt was a real eye opener for us in the sense that what was happening was this decision was being driven by a request to drive costs down: a budget request.\u00a0 In the long run it was going to be\u00a0a bad move for the Air Force and the Air Force changed their position \u2013 not without a little encouragement from the delegation, I might add.\u00a0 But it was an opportunity to focus and force that conversation about \u201cwell what was the strategy here.\u201d Mr. Chairman, I am so concerned that in an effort to chase the dollars \u2013 in an effort to drive down costs \u2013 we are putting our country and national defense in jeopardy because decisions are being\u00a0driven by sequestration and we are not keeping our eye on the bigger picture.\u201d\r\nTowards the end of her questioning period, she heard agreement from an Illinois mayor.\u00a0 Rockford, Illinois Mayor Larry Morrissey responded to her open-ended question seeking his view.\u00a0 Morrissey then proceeded to make his case that more flexibility would allow him efficient discretion, since he knows best what programs are most needed in his community.\r\n(Murkowski inquires about the needs of those on the ground seeing sequestration first-hand)\r\nMurkowski:\r\n\u201cWe are coming to the end of 2013 pretty quickly.\u00a0 The challenges that our military services will face in 2014 as they deal with this frontloaded sequestration requirements are staring us in the face. There is a concern that we may be in a situation where we don\u2019t see sequestration going away. What would you do if you were sitting in our shoes? Mayor [Morrissey], you complimented the Chairman and all of us, saying we have a hard job here.\u00a0 What would you do in the remaining few weeks of this year to lead our nation away from this crisis that we are currently facing with sequestration?\u00a0\r\n(Mayor Morrissey testifies that he is seeking flexibility.)\r\nMayor Larry Morrissey:\r\nHere\u2019s the final deal that I\u2019d take in an instant: I know we have to take cuts.\u00a0 But instead of just coming at it with an axe for an unintelligent whack, let\u2019s talk to local governments about what they\u2019re willing to trade off.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019d cut off \u2013 you want to cut my budget, give me flexibility and hold me accountable for results and don\u2019t micromanage the process.\r\nBackgrounder on Flexibility: Earlier this year, Senator Lisa Murkowski voted in support of the Sequestration Flexibility Act that would allow each federal agency to determine where to prioritize the cuts.\u00a0 She has frequently used the example of a Super Bowl flyover by the U.S. Navy that cost $450,000 \u2013 when the roof of that stadium was closed \u2013 to illustrate what would be smarter cuts to make than others.\r\n\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t  \n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=702d697c-e0ee-441a-9515-fe7952c8b8c4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5182038769125938, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}