Defense Secretary Mattie “shocked” by poor state of U.S. combat readiness

Defense Secretary Mattis “shocked” by poor state of U.S. combat readiness (Source cbsnews.com) Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declared that he was “shocked” upon his return to the Pentagon by the poor state of the U.S. military’s readiness for combat. He put most of the blame on Congress for its inability to approve budgets on time or repeal a law that strictly limits defense spending. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Mattis said Congress has “sidelined itself from its active constitutional oversight role” by failing to deliver a steady stream of funding to pay for new weapons and other critical gear. “It has blocked new programs, prevented service growth, stalled industry initiative and placed troops at greater risk,” Mattis said as he urged the panel to do away with the Budget Control Act of 2011. If the budget caps mandated by the law are breached, automatic spending reductions known as sequestration are triggered. “For all the heartache caused by the loss of our troops during these wars, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of our military than sequestration,” said Mattis, who retired from military service in 2013 as a four-star general.

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