washingtonscene
Quote of the Month “Faced with serious economic challenges, we are slipping back into the Sept. 10 mentality that a solid defense can be dictated by budget choices, not [by] strategic ones.” — House Armed Ser-
vices Committee Chair Rep. Howard “Buck”
McKeon (R-Calif.) at a committee hearing
is to offset the extraordinary demands and sacrifices inherent in a service career. They were built to provide a powerful incentive for top-quality people to serve 20 to 30 years in uniform, despite the kind of hardships imposed on troops and their families over the past 10 years of war. Why endure that if the reward is a ben-
efit package similar to that provided to civilians who don’t bear any such burden of arduous and extended sacrifice? If the administration and DoD won’t
make the case to protect current, future, and retired servicemembers and their families and survivors in these tough bud- get times, MOAA certainly intends to. Now is the time for all MOAA mem- bers to mobilize. Please urge your officer friends to join MOAA and start actively working to protect their interests and those of the current and future force. This isn’t just about equity. It’s about an attack on the core elements that sustain the quality career force. Those who continue to sit on the sidelines jeopardize their and the mili- tary community’s interests and the na- tion’s future capability to sustain a strong national defense.
What’s the Plan? Member participation is key to
MOAA’s grassroots efforts. M 32 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2011
OAA’s first priority is to make our case to the 12 legisla- tors appointed to the bipartisan
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Re- duction (also known as the “super com- mittee”), charged with identifying $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction initiatives by Thanksgiving. Super committee members are: Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Rob Portman (R-
Ohio), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Fred Upton (R- Mich.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). These legislators will consider proposals
by the president and others in making final recommendations to Congress. Under the budget law passed in August, their recom- mendations must get an up-or-down con- gressional vote before Christmas. If Congress doesn’t pass the super com-
mittee’s recommendation or some equiva- lent alternative, the August budget law requires automatic across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion, with half coming from the defense budget. As this article went to press, MOAA had
generated more than 300,000 messages to Congress to urge against significant cuts in military forces, compensation, and benefits. More than 70,000 of those came in response to a special appeal to MOAA members from association President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., in the wake of the new White House proposal. But our review showed less than 10,000 of those went to super committee mem- bers, many of whom have small numbers of MOAA members in their districts. So Ryan sent a special letter to nearly
30,000 MOAA-member constituents of super committee legislators, providing a personalized MOAA-prepared letter and pre-stamped envelope, pre-addressed to their legislators. He asked those MOAA members to sign the letter and add a hand- written PS emphasizing their personal con- cerns. (Due to the larger numbers of MOAA members in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington, not all members in those states received a letter.) MOAA also sent letters to each member
of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, because they will submit their input to the super committee in October.
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