Sequestration Has Arrived

Tonight at midnight, time has run out, Congress has run out of town, and the nation is facing Sequestration.

As promised the "do nothing" 112th Congress, with a carry over to the new 113th Congress allowed
the hard and bitter cuts to the budget take place.

These cuts will be felt far and wide, and if nothing is done quickly, for a very long time.

The drastic cuts of $85 billion to the budget with a very large amount $48 billion to the Department
of Defense, will cause serious and frightening consequences.

All of the service chiefs of staff and outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned many times
of the effects and creating a "hollow" military.

Already the Navy has cut back on planned maintenance of several major ships of the line, delayed
deployment of some ships, will cut back on training.

The Air Force has said they will cut back on training, delay purchases of equipment. The Army, Coast Guard and Marines Corps have all announced less training, less purchases of major equipment.

Plus all services have mentioned possible drastic cut backs in personnel.

Civilian jobs are also at risk, some employees being told they will be forced to take off one day
a week without pay; some through September. That means less time building our nations military
equipment.

How can this not effect our nation and our military. Our brave men and women of the Armed
Forces of the United States will be forced to do more with less and spend more time doing it.

If Congress does not correct this wrong very soon (and it is not yet too late) to fix the problem
how will we as a nation be properly armed and ready to defend our country.

It is well know that both Russia and China are rapidly building their armed forces, most notably
their naval and air forces.

We also have to consider North Korea, Iran, countries in Africa, the Middle East,  and
South America all looking to rattle their sabers and march their armies, anything to increase
their standing on the worlds stage.

Who will be brave and foolish enough to say, look America is getting weaker and their forces
are being stretched too thin. Now would be a good time to strike a little fear into what was once
the greatest and strongest nation in the world.

The new Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that it will not be as bad as others have prophesied
that our military will remain the best and strongest. He suggests that after talking to all the service
chiefs that we will not lose a step, will not stumble.

Time will tell just how hard these budget cuts will affect America and every man woman and child
in our great nation. How long will we have to suffer what has been forced upon us, how deep
will we fall and how quickly?

Our country was just beginning to see the light at the end of the fiscal tunnel, there was a small
turn-around starting and the economy was on the mend.

 It was slight and slowly growing, now will the entire house of cards come crashing down? Will
it throw us back into recession? Can it be another great depression? We can only hope not.


---- Jerald Terwilliger Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans "We Remember" ---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

Obama said no cuts to VA, Secretary Shinseki says there will be cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C—Today, at a joint hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs and Armed Services Committees, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, confirmed that under sequestration, VA would face cuts, possibly affecting the administration of veterans' benefits and services, stating, "VA is exempt from sequestration except for administrative costs… I don't have a definition of administrative costs right now."

 

"President Obama publicly said Monday at the VFW Convention that VA is exempt from sequestration, yet the Secretary conceded today that VA would face cuts early next year if a sequester takes place," stated Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "Since last August, I have been asking this question and until today, I have received nothing but double speak. I am now demanding that VA and the President define 'administrative costs.' Does this mean closing veterans' hospitals, fewer claims processors to help veterans with their disability compensation, longer wait times for veterans suffering from the invisible wounds of war or those having to bury a loved one, not to mention the possible impact on homeless veterans' programs and research to care for our wounded warriors? Congress, and more important, our veterans, deserve an honest, straight-forward answer."

 

In the first joint hearing of the two Committees in recent history, Members also addressed serious concerns that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs were not working fast enough toward a seamless transition for servicemembers leaving the military. Secretary Shinseki noted that "over the next five years, there is the potential for one million serving men and women to either leave military service or demobilize from active duty," raising numerous questions on the already convoluted transition process for veterans.

 

Wait times for the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, which assists wounded warriors transition from DoD to VA, are already at record highs, the disability claims backlog has tripled in the past four years, and a majority of veterans seeking mental health evaluations wait an average of two months for an appointment.

"Despite repeated assurances from VA and DoD to provide a 'warm handoff,' it is clear that is not happening. Unfortunately, what we heard today, we have heard before. And what is clear is that there are still no tangible results demonstrating that the silos between the departments have been broken down," Miller said. "American know-how put a man on the moon in less than a decade, but 50 years later we can't produce single electronic medical database for our military and veterans in the same span of time? There is clearly something wrong with this system, and the time has come to see real change and real results."

For more news from the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, please visit:

Veterans.House.Gov

Find us on Facebook at: Facebook.com/HouseVetsAffairs or follow us on Twitter at:

@HouseVetAffairs

---- Jerald Terwilliger Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans "We Remember" ---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996