Tuesday, July 17, 2001
Rumsfeld defends B-1 cuts,
closings
From staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, facing resistance from lawmakers protecting local military
programs, argued Monday for slashing the B-1 bomber force and
closing bases to save money.
“We’re going to come at you,”
Rumsfeld told lawmakers, saying a failure to reduce Cold War-era
bombers and close bases would “send a damaging signal”
as the military seeks savings. “We have simply got to turn
waste into weapons.”
One way to save money, he said, is reducing
the size of the B-1 force, arguing that the planes are 20 years
old, not stealthy, in-tended for a Cold War the nation is no longer
fighting and “not viable in a conflict today: They are too
vulnerable.”
His plan to reduce the force from 93 planes
to 60, upgrade those remaining and close three of the five B-1
bases reflects “the kind of efficiency we owe the taxpayers,”
he said. Dyess Air Force Base would be one of the two bases that
would maintain a fleet of B-1B Lancers, though the number of supersonic
aircraft at the base would drop from 40 to 32.
Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota would also
continue to fly B-1s under Rumsfeld’s plan.
Lawmakers from Kansas, Georgia and Idaho
have loudly protested the loss of B-1 bases in their states.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., whose state risks
losing nine B-1s at McConnell AFB, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho,
whose Mountain Home AFB has seven B-1s, have offered an amendment
to the 2001 defense appropriations that prohibits 2001 B-1 funding
from being used to relocate the fleet before Oct. 1, the start
of the new fiscal year.
“A decision of this magnitude should
not have been made without the advice and consent of Congress,”
Craig said. “This amendment corrects that by giving Congress
time to thoroughly review such a major proposal in the regular
budget process over the coming weeks.”
Rumsfeld warned that a delay would harm
the military.
“Failure of this proposal will send
a damaging message across the defense establishment — that
finding ways to save money and increase efficiency is a waste
of time and leads to nothing but hostility to the Air Force,”
he said.
Appearing before the House Appropriations
Committee’s defense panel, the defense secretary emphasized
the bottom line, saying the proposed B-1 cuts will save up to
$1.5 billion over five years. Those funds will pay for the modernization
of the remaining planes, he said.
For the same cost-saving reasons, he called
for another round of base closings, saying, “As little stomach
as I have for it, we’re going to come at you.”
“I sure wish that members of Congress
would offer up bases rather than me having go find them,”
Rumsfeld said later.
“I’ve already given you three,”
replied Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., the subcommittee chairman.
Members of the House Appropriations Committee’s
defense panel offered much support for the proposed defense budget
of $328.9 billion for fiscal 2002, an increase of $22.8 billion
over current spending.
Despite his acknowledgment that the Pentagon
needs $347 billion next year to keep up with current costs plus
inflation, Rumsfeld bridled at criticism that President Bush had
let him down. The proposed budget, he said, “only makes a
good dent in the shortfall we’re facing.”
Rep. Norman Dicks, D-Wash., encouraged Rumsfeld
“to tell the American people ... what we need to have.”
“We’re told you asked for like
$38 billion,” but got only $18 billion, he said, referring
to the administration’s late June increase in its original
$310 billion Defense Department spending request.
Rumsfeld rejected the invitation to blame
his boss.
“The country has known that we’ve
been under-funding the defense budget year after year after year,”
he said. “This is nothing new. ... There is no way on the
face of the earth we’re going to dig out of the hole we’re
in in one year. It will take a series of years.”
The Associated Press and Reporter-News
Washington bureau writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.
Send a Letter to
the Editor about This Story
Start or Join A
Discussion about This Story
Send
the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend:
Copyright
©2001, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps.
Publications
|
