releases: https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ContentRecord_id=1E1BE51E-0716-4A05-9EEB-A0A2C7BECE03
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ContentRecord_id=1E1BE51E-0716-4A05-9EEB-A0A2C7BECE03 | FLOOR STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON IMPACT OF CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON NATIONAL SECURITY | 2016-11-17 | 2016 | 2016-11 | Republican | House | AZ | John McCain | M000303 | www.mccain.senate.gov | legacy | Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered the following remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate on funding our national defense and the impact of another continuing resolution on military readiness and national security: “Mr. President: “Here we go again. For the eighth consecutive year, Congress has failed to pass an appropriations bill for the Department of Defense on time, leaving our troops operating on a so-called ‘continuing resolution.’ “Now fresh off an election where the American people were clear that they are fed up with business as usual, that’s exactly what they’re about to get if Congress adopts another continuing resolution that would cut resources to our troops, hamper the war against ISIL, and delay the cutting-edge equipment they need. “A continuing resolution would also make the job of managing the government’s largest agency even more difficult—and at the worst possible time. The presidential transition process currently underway is difficult enough on its own. But no incoming president has ever had to inherit a Department of Defense operating under a continuing resolution. This is not the time to break that streak. “As the name suggests, a continuing resolution is supposed to continue funding the government in situations where the Congress fails to pass a regular appropriations bill. So what’s the big deal about continuing last year’s funding levels? “Our nation asks a lot of the men and women serving in uniform. We are asking them to defend our nation and our interests in real time against rapidly changing threats and adaptive adversaries. “But a continuing resolution would lock our military into last year’s budget and last year’s priorities. A continuing resolution would place our troops at greater risk by forcing them to operate under an outdated budget that does not recognize the full extent of the threats they face. “Worst still, a continuing resolution doesn’t quite live up to its name. A continuing resolution would actually cut funds for our troops. The continuing resolution passed by Congress in September to keep the government funded through the end of this year cut the military’s budget by $9 billion at annualized levels. Under a potential year-long continuing resolution, our military would be short $12 billion. “Not only would a continuing resolution cut resources for our troops, it would leave them with the wrong mix of funding among accounts. Under a continuing resolution, our military would experience shortfalls in some important accounts. “Training for our National Guard and Reserve troops would be at risk of falling off track. “As Vladimir Putin’s Russia continues to menace our NATO allies, our military would not be able to carry out the expansion of the European Reassurance Initiative, which is essential to deterring Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. “A continuing resolution would put our troops at greater risk in Afghanistan and in the fight against ISIL. The President has requested a $5.8 billion emergency supplemental to cover the costs of additional troops deployed to Afghanistan and expanded operations against ISIL. But a continuing resolution would not include any of these necessary funds, which would fill a shortfall looming in January. Put simply, a continuing resolution would shortchange American troops putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. “Meanwhile, the Department of Defense could have an excess of as much as $6 billion in procurement funds under a year-long continuing resolution. However, those funds would be unusable because of restrictions on new procurement starts and increases in production rates. “Under a continuing resolution of any duration, our military would have to delay 78 new starts and 89 production increases, which would affect critical programs including the Ohio Replacement Program, the KC-46 tanker, and the Apache and Blackhawk helicopters. A continuing resolution would also delay major research and development initiatives. “In short, a continuing resolution would cut funds for our troops. And what funds they receive would not match their most urgent priorities. “Some may ask, even if a continuing resolution delays some programs, can’t we just make it up later? “For some programs, perhaps. But there is one area where we cannot make up the losses of a continuing resolution, and that is readiness. We are asking our troops to be ready to defend this nation at a moment’s notice. We are asking our troops to be ready to take the fight to ISIL. We are asking our troops to be ready to deter, and if necessary, defeat aggression in Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. We are asking them to be ready today, but a continuing resolution would force tradeoffs that undermine readiness. And adding additional readiness funds later in the year would simply be too little, too late—just papering over our failure to give our troops the resources they need when they need it. Readiness tomorrow does not replace readiness today. “Every senior leader at the Department of Defense has warned Congress about the negative impact of a continuing resolution on our troops. “Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has stated, ‘a continuing resolution is a straight-jacket’ that ‘prevents us from fielding a modern, ready force in a balanced way. A continuing resolution, Secretary Carter said, ‘undercuts stable planning and efficient use of taxpayer dollars.’ “The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Neller, warned that a long-term continuing resolution ‘dramatically increases risk to an already strained fiscal environment and disrupts predictability and our ability to properly plan and execute a budget and a 5-year program.’ “The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Goldfein, warned that a continuing resolution would reduce procurement of critical munitions for the ISIL fight, affecting not only the United States, but our coalition partners who rely on us to deliver preferred munitions. “The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Richardson, warned that a continuing resolution would lead to wasted taxpayer dollars. Under a continuing resolution, the Navy would be forced to break up its contract actions into smaller pieces. As a result, Admiral Richardson warned the Navy would not be able to ‘take advantage of savings from contractors who could better manage their workload and pass on lower costs to the Navy. These redundant efforts drive additional time and cost into the system, for exactly the same output.’ “The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Milley, made a similar warning about waste and inefficiency resulting from budget uncertainty, saying: ‘things like multiyear contracts, developing long-term relationships with industry where they can count on us and so on—that becomes very difficult. And what ends up happening is the price per unit goes up. So it has built in inefficiency. It has built in cost overruns. It is an un-good situation. It is not good and it needs to end.’ “General Milley is right. This madness needs to end. It is time for Congress to do its job. When it comes to doing our constitutional duty to provide for the common defense, there is no call for lazy shortcuts that shortchange our troops. “Let’s pass a defense authorization bill. Let’s pass a defense appropriations bill that gives our troops the resources, predictability, and flexibility they need and deserve. And next year, with a new president and a new Congress, let’s go to work immediately on ending sequestration once and for all and returning to a strategy-driven defense budget. And let’s work together on a defense supplemental that will serve as a down-payment on rebuilding military capacity, capability, and readiness that have suffered under years of budget cuts and uncertainty. “But this year, in this Congress, let’s do our jobs and pass defense authorization and appropriations bills. That is what the American people expect of us. And it is what the men and women who serve and sacrifice on our behalf deserve from us.” ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |