Newspaper Article

Congressional Roundup: Military Readiness; Republicans Fire An Opening Salvo

Schmitt, Eric

1995

Overview

In the opening move of what is sure to be a yearlong Republican assault on the Administration's stewardship of military readiness, the Senate Armed Services Committee heard field commanders' testimony as to whether Pentagon budget cuts were imperiling the armed forces' ability to fight. They explained away a rash of canceled training exercises and spare-parts shortages last fall, attributing them simply to a \"cash-flow problem\" caused by the Pentagon's dipping into training budgets to pay for $1.7 billion in unexpected costs resulting from operations in Rwanda, Cuba, Haiti and Kuwait. The Pentagon's comptroller, John Hamre, testified that many of the military's remaining readiness problems would be solved if Congress approved a supplemental appropriation of about $2 billion that the White House plans to propose on Feb. 6. If Congress does not approve the extra money by March 31, Mr. Hamre warned, the Pentagon will face \"a readiness crisis.\" ERIC SCHMITT

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: BEAVERS, JENNINGS B 2D (COL) / BUDGETS AND BUDGETING / CLINTON, BILL (PRES) / ELECTION ISSUES / FINANCES / SCHMITT, ERIC / UNITED STATES ARMAMENT AND DEFENSE