McDonnell, Bolling, Cuccinelli: Obama Defense Cuts Harmful to National Security, Economy

 Governor Bob McDonnell today made the following statement on President Obama’s devastating cuts to defense:

“Virginia is the home of America’s military. We are home to the Pentagon, to Quantico, to Norfolk, to Langley AFB, and so many other critical components of our nation’s armed forces. The President has put our defense budget on course for radical cuts that even his own Secretary of Defense says will be “devastating” to U.S. national security. An American president’s most fundamental duty is to protect our country. As the Governor of Virginia, but also as a veteran, the son of a veteran and the father of a veteran, I fully understand that what is at stake is not only a potentially major economic blow to the Commonwealth but a great deal more: namely, our national security in a dangerous world."

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling today made the following statement on President Obama’s devastating cuts to defense:

“We are very concerned about the impact that sequestration could have on Virginia’s economy.  We all understand that budget reductions have to be made, but we need to make targeted reductions, and we should not expect the defense budget to carry a disproportionate share of the cuts. If sequestration proceeds as the President wants, it could have a devastating effect on the military which would adversely impact Virginia’s economy and leave the nation less capable of defending our interests. It could also deliver a devastating blow to the private sector defense contractors who make up a big part of Virginia’s economy, especially in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.  This is just another example of how the President’s approach to running the country is jeopardizing our economic viability.”

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli today made the following statement on President Obama’s devastating cuts to defense spending:

“Even
Barack Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, is alarmed about the
course the President has set us on. In fact, he’s highly alarmed, going
so far as to say that it will have the same effect as ‘shooting
ourselves in the head.’ For President Obama to play budgetary Russian
roulette with national defense is shameful. The damage to our local
economy here in Virginia will be enormous. But the damage to our
national security is what really counts.  It is absolutely critical that
we seriously attack our debt and deficit problems, and that's going to
take cooperation to avoid these types of severe sequestration cuts.”