Congress' budgetary uncertainty is harming the troops

Thanks to efforts by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the Army is on its way to a stronger future. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, prepared by the two panels that Congress approved on Nov. 16 and is on the way to the White House, addresses many of the Army’s unfunded priorities, adds more troops, advances weapons modernization, and increases training to improve readiness and expand capabilities.

But the work of the Armed Services Committees won’t mean much unless accompanied by the funding required to support the armed forces. Congress must now undertake a two-part budgetary solution.

First, the Appropriations Committees, then the full Senate and House, must approve a real defense budget before the expiration of the current Continuing Resolution on Dec. 8. Another CR, even a short one, handcuffs the Army and the other services in their ability to modernize, train, and equip the armed forces. The ill effects of short-term, stop-gap measures like the continuing resolution have been well documented and clearly articulated to Congress by the Defense Department's most senior civilian and military leaders as well as by the defense industry community.

This is the ninth consecutive year Congress has been unable to pass a defense appropriations bill by the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. There simply is no excuse to not have an approved budget. “Taking care of the troops” begins with assured, adequate, and predictable funding.

Second, now is the time to eliminate (or at least waive) the harmful and counter-productive defense spending caps. Imposed in the Budget Control Act of 2011, the defense spending caps have inserted complexity and uncertainty into the defense resourcing process. It’s simple: Congress must vote to remove these artificial spending caps now. The harm posed by defense budget caps is recognized by almost every member of Congress, many of whom have stated at some point in the past six years that the caps, which trigger mindless across-the-board spending cuts, are a terrible way of dealing with national security programs.