Don't Lay America's Debts on Vets' Shoulders

Don't Lay America's Debts on Vets' Shoulders
Posted: 09/14/2012
Huffington Post
Jeremy Hilton
2012 Military Spouse of the Year

This is a call to action for all military men and women, the veterans that came before them, and the families that support them both.

On January 2, 2013, the automatic spending cuts written into the Budget Control Act of 2011 (otherwise known as sequestration) will go into effect, amounting to an additional $500 billion in cuts to the defense budget. Sequestration poses an immediate and direct threat to both our nation's defenses and the people who provide for that defense.

Sequestration would create significant readiness issues, reducing the force by tens of thousands of personnel, freezing compensation, reducing healthcare, and eliminating important family support programs. At an absolutely critical juncture, sequestration has the potential to decimate the all-volunteer force, all because politicians do not want to compromise or make hard decisions.

We understand the sacrifice required of our entire nation in order to reduce our overall deficit and debt. However, this sacrifice should be shared by all. Our nation's debts should not be primarily laid on the shoulders of those who have already given so much.

The Department of Defense's leadership has been constantly pushing Congress to take steps to avoid sequestration. Here is but one example:

"I've seen extraordinary examples of courage and sacrifice over the past year in the men and women that I've met in the war zones, in the wounded warriors that I've met here at home. They are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect our country. They deserve better than the threat of sequestration. Too often today, the nation's problems are held hostage to the unwillingness to find consensus and compromise, and in the face of that gridlock, artificial devices like sequester are resorted to in order to somehow force action. But in the absence of action, sequestration could very well threaten the programs critical to our national security...the men and women of this department and their families need to know with certainty that we will meet our commitments to them and to their families." Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Pentagon briefing, June 29, 2012.
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