SKELTON URGES PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS ARMY READINESS

Washington, DC – In a letter to the President, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-MO) reiterated his concerns about the state of Army readiness and urged the President to prepare an emergency supplemental funding request to meet Army requirements.

Skelton wrote,”Mr. President, you came into office rightly concerned about the state of our military’s readiness. In 2000, you pointed out that two divisions were below required readiness levels and would not be able to report for duty if called. Today, unclassified Army briefing charts show two-thirds of the brigade combat teams in our operating force are unready. Nearly every non-deployed combat brigade in the active Army is reporting that they are not ready to complete their assigned wartime missions.”

“When I asked General Schoomaker in recent testimony if he was comfortable with the readiness level for the non-deployed units located within the continental United States, he simply answered no. The risk these figures represent to the security of this nation is unacceptable,” wrote Skelton.

Skelton called on the President to do two things.

“First, I would suggest you direct OMB to begin work immediately on an emergency supplemental spending request that would be sent to Congress on the first day of the new fiscal year to cover all needed Army requirements related to readiness and reset funding that cannot be covered in the Fiscal Year 2007 defense bill, as well as any funds needed by other services in these categories,” wrote Skelton.

“Second, the Army estimates it will need at least $12 billion annually for the next several years. Therefore, in future years, your budget requests to Congress, forwarded through the Department of Defense and OMB, should fully cover the Army’s readiness and reset needs,” wrote Skelton.

Click here to see a copy of Skelton’s letter to the President.

- 30 -