House Democrats Have Obama’s Back By Opposing Republican Defense Spending Bill

Once again, I am writing to underscore the urgent need for House Democrats to support the President’s path to lifting the sequester by urging a ‘No’ vote on the Republican Defense Appropriations bill.

Recognizing that our first responsibility is to protect and defend, Democrats stand for a strong national defense. That is why we support lifting the sequester and fully funding the President’s defense budget request.

As with the Republican Defense authorization bill, the Defense appropriation bill is bad budgeting and harmful to military planning – perpetuating uncertainty and instability in the defense budget, and damaging the military’s ability to plan and prepare for the future.

As Defense Secretary Carter said, Republicans’ approach is “clearly a road to nowhere,” “managerially unsound” and “unfairly dispiriting to our force.”

As the Administration’s veto threat states, “the bill drastically underfunds critical investments in DOD’s base budget and instead uses Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding in ways that leaders in both parties have made clear are inappropriate. Base budget sequestration levels will damage our ability to restore readiness, advance badly-needed technological modernization, and keep faith with our troops and their families.”

The veto threat continues, “The Republican framework would bring base discretionary funding for both non-defense and defense for FY 2016 to the lowest real levels in a decade. Compared to the President’s Budget, the cuts would result in tens of thousands of the Nation’s most vulnerable children losing access to Head Start, more than two million fewer workers receiving job training and employment services, and thousands fewer scientific and medical research awards and grants, along with other impacts that would hurt the economy, the middle class, and Americans working hard to reach the middle class.” You may read the full veto threat here.

Republicans should come together with Democrats in a fiscally responsible way to protect our national security and grow our economy.

House Democrats’ sustaining of the President’s veto on unacceptably damaging appropriations bills will more forcefully bring Republicans to the table.

Our sustaining the President’s veto, combined with Senate Democrats’ refusal to allow the appropriations bills, including Defense, to come to the Senate floor is the key to unlocking sequestration for defense and non-defense.

Please vote ‘No’ on the Republican Defense Appropriations bill.

Thank you for your consideration and your leadership.

Best Regards,