Randy's Blog

RSS Feed
Congressman Forbes Questions CEOs on Looming Effects of Sequestration
Posted by Randy | July 19, 2012
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) held a hearing Wednesday to discuss the potential effects of catastrophic budget cuts to defense industry and jobs in Virginia, if no action is taken before January 1st.  The CEOs from Lockheed Martin, Pratt and Whitney, EADS North America, and Williams-Pyro were present to answer questions from HASC about their views on sequestration and how they expect its implementation to affect jobs and the American economy.

The witnesses were in agreement that sequestration could potentially raise the cost of capital and decrease competition, especially amongst second and third tier defense companies, and also diminish job seekers’ incentive to work in an industry where cuts are looming. Della Williams, CEO of Williams Pyro, described sequestration as “cosmetic surgery with a chainsaw.”

I explained that the amount the administration spent on the stimulus package for one year was equivalent to the amount that is being taking out of defense for 10 years. My big concern are all the cuts that are taking place, and I'm also concerned about the $487 billion we've already taken from Defense, much less the half trillion dollars that are coming. I am troubled by precedence here. At the beginning of the decade, the United States had 50 major contractors and today there are six. Today, only two companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, build U.S. fighter aircraft.

When I asked the witnesses what impact they thought sequestration may have that might be similar to the weeding out of the industrial base in the ‘90s, they agreed that they expect consolidation of corporations, noting that consolidation can severely limit competition. They further suggested the possibility that companies may simply exit the public market and will move toward more commercial markets.

AAs Virginia is the number one state for federal defense spending with 13.9% of state GDP coming from the defense industry, I am dedicated to working against sequestration and the potentially devastating impacts that it could bring. With defense cuts, 122,800 jobs are predicted to be lost in Virginia and the Commonwealth will lose $10.5 billion in Gross State Product.  The defense industry is a vital part of the Fourth District’s economy and provides jobs to thousands of people, and I will continue working to ensure the economic success of the Fourth District.

Please read more below about my work to stop these defense cuts from devastating our economy, causing massive layoffs, stripping Veterans’ benefits and crippling our military.


Click here to read more about my efforts to Defend Our Defenders

I voted for H.R. 5652: the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012

I voted for H.R. 5872: The Sequestration Transparency Act 

Strong Defense, Strong America 

Forbes: Sequester Would Cripple Security – Roll Call

Top Ten Impacts of Looming Defense Cuts

Defense Cuts: a Very High Risk

Watch Looming Defense Cuts: A Threat to Jobs and Those Who Serve
Comments
Users are solely responsible for the opinions they post here and their comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Congressman Forbes.
  • Gregg J commented on 7/20/2012
    Asking defense contractor CEOs about the effects of sequestration is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. These are the same contractors that designed the F-22, CV-22 and B-1 aircraft. All three platforms have horrendous reliability rates. Additionally these platforms are maintenance intensive in a time of shrinking active duty manpower. Defense contractors along with a few less than knowledgeable senior officers are a key reason why the defense budget is out of control. The defense acquisition and contracting process needs to have strict oversight outside the chain of command. Maybe the Inspector General could be utilized in this oversight role. Hopefully this oversight will prevent wasteful spending on weapon systems of dubious design and keep our men and women in uniform safe.
  • Thomas G commented on 7/24/2012
    I agree with Gregg having worked in the defense industry myself I can testify that under President Bush and with congressman Forbes support the implementation of performance based contracting has been disasterous. A study was done that revealed the move actually cost the tax payers 600 billion dollars, and incredibly the only service that yielded lower cost was for landscaping maintenance. The explosion in spending is universally under congressman Forbes watch over the past 12 years. It is a terrible record with trillions of dollars in new debt and worst of all, Mr. Forbes actually voted to shove the nation into default. Incredibly, it was just reported today that the cost of last years temper tantrum by the republicans over raising the debt limit cost the tax payers over a BILLION dollars. Are the tax payers better off since congressman Forbes went to the congress in 2000 with Bush and was given a balanced budget at the time. Look where we are now and I would argue we are far worse off than when Mr. Forbes began representing us.
Post a Comment
We encourage you to analyze and comment on the posts featured on this blog, but please understand that comments which include campaign content, engage in personal attacks, or include vulgar, profane, obscene, or inappropriate language will be removed from the site. Please note that there may be a brief delay in the publication of your comment.
Address (optional):

*By leaving a comment on this blog, you are subscribing to my e-mail newsletter.

Services

Other Services

Issues

More Issues