U.S. Global Leadership Coalition: U.S. Armed Forces Commanders Speak Out: State Department, USAID Essential to Success of Military
Abhik Pramanik, USGLC policy assistant, writes, “Every year, our nation’s top military leaders — the heads of each Combatant Command, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Defense Secretary — give testimony to Congress. Each addresses their current command mission, potential threats the U.S. may face, and how the Department of Defense will respond. These annual posture statements have already begun on Capitol Hill, with the current Combatant Commanders appearing in front of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. This year, all of them commented on the recent proposed cuts to the International Affairs Budget. As former Secretary of Defense Gates has said, ‘You would find…extraordinary support across the entire Defense Department’ for the State Department ‘and for their budget,’ a fact that been made readily apparent over the last month. In written and oral testimony in Congress, our military’s most senior officers have made it clear that the administration’s proposed cuts would not only make their jobs harder, but that a strong, fully resourced International Affairs Budget is vital to an effective national security strategy…” (4/17).