At a congressional oversight panel hearing on "rethinking our defense budget," Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) said current efforts to find efficiencies in the Pentagon and reform the acquisition system are not enough.
"If we were to concentrate just on making the military we have more efficient--getting rid of some waste, fraud, and abuse--are we all pretty much in agreement, that would be a far less significant savings than if you really take a look at the mission and take a look at just how we structure, what are the purposes of the mission of the Department of Defense," Tierney asked a panel of think-tank experts, none of whom disagreed.
"It is critical that the commission scrutinize all aspects of our budget, including the defense budget as it formulates its suggestions," Tierney said. ( . . . )
Frank, a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), created a Sustainable Defense Task Force that is calling for trimming the Pentagon's budget by $960 billion over the next decade. The task force wants to cut weapon systems including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, and MV-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft, and reduce the target number of Navy ships from 313 to 230.Frank yesterday also reiterated the call, which he has been making on television news programs, that the United States should spend less money defending western Europe. (Source: Defense Daily) - bit.ly/usa_defense
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