Department Would "Suffer Consequences" From Continuing Resolution

AIA said Thursday it agrees with comments by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warning that the department would suffer adverse consequences if Congress fails to pass a full defense appropriations bill as part of any funding package. If DOD is required to operate under a year-long continuing resolution, instead of full appropriations, Gates said it would leave the department "without the resources and flexibility needed to meet vital military requirements."

AIA says that the FAA and NASA could also suffer under an omnibus continuing resolution.

"Congress needs to take Secretary Gates' concerns into account," said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. "Asking DOD to manage its vast and complex operations under a year-long continuing resolution would hurt efforts to meet needs that are sometimes unanticipated in wartime. The disruption to critical programs could have adverse effects on the defense industrial base."

Gates noted that the proposed continuing resolution "would cut defense funding by about $19 billion, but would not reduce or eliminate any of the additional bills the department must pay in the coming year. We will need to cover the military pay raise, increases in military health care costs, higher fuel prices, and other 'fact of life' bills," the secretary continued. "None of these additional costs are covered by a continuing resolution."

Marion Blakey

"NASA and the FAA would face similar challenges under a continuing resolution," said Blakey. "Operations vital to our national security and economic prosperity could suffer without full appropriations for these agencies."

FMI: www.aia-aerospace.org