Guest Blogger: Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA)
Rep. J. Randy Forbes /
The defense budget is a lens through which we see our national defense priorities and the tool by which we will equip our warfighters and maintain a ready defense. To achieve an effective defense budget requires – at the very least – accountability and transparency.
While the Administration has certainly insisted on transparency when it involves divulging interrogation techniques used on detainees, they have refused to apply the same standard for the American people when it comes to the readiness of our nation’s defenses. Consider the following recent actions:
- The Administration announced it has classified routine reports on ship readiness, preventing the results from being brought to the public’s attention.
- The Secretary of Defense has refused to submit a congressionally-mandated 30-year shipbuilding plan with the 2010 budget request, even though it is required by law.
- The Secretary of Defense has refused to submit a congressionally-mandated 30-year military aviation plan for the Air Force and Navy, even though it is required by law.
- For the first time in history, Defense Secretary Robert Gates instituted a gag order requiring hundreds of Pentagon officials sign non-disclosure agreements barring them from discussing budget deliberations with Members of Congress. The gag-order was ultimately lifted, but not before senior Army officials refused to testify at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Army’s top acquisition project, because it was “too closely aligned to the FY2010 budget.” (more…)