FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Contact: Madison Wiberg, [email protected]
Highlights Importance of Budget for USMC Readiness
Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H.Res. 994, a bipartisan resolution introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher in support of rebuilding and modernizing the U.S. Marine Corps. The resolution highlights the critical need for Congress to fix the budgetary uncertainty that currently impedes the Marine Corps’ ability to meet ongoing and unexpected threats to U.S. national security. Since taking office in 2017, Rep. Gallagher has consistently called on Congress to reach a long-term budget agreement to address the military’s readiness crisis.
After passage of the resolution, Rep. Gallagher released the following statement:
“Our Marines put their lives on the line to defend this country, and the very least we can do is give them the equipment, training, and resources they need to do their jobs and return home safely. But national security and economic security go hand-in-hand, which is why Congress must get out from the budgetary dysfunction that is taking a serious toll on our military’s readiness. My hope is that this resolution will strengthen my colleagues’ commitment to passing a budget and providing the Marine Corps with the stable, robust, and on-time funding it critically needs.”
Background on the readiness crisis:
Since fiscal year 2010, the Marine Corps active duty end strength has shrunk by 8 percent, from 202,100 to 186,000.
From fiscal year 2013 through fiscal year 2017, Marine Corps aviation accidents increased by 80 percent from 56 to 101 per year.
Between 2011 and 2017, aviation accidents killed more than 60 Marines, including 19 over a 2-month period in 2017.
On March 1, 2016, Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller stated, ‘‘The fiscal reductions and instability of the past few years have impacted our readiness. As resources have diminished, the Marine Corps has protected the near-term operational readiness of its deployed and next-to-deploy units in order to meet operational commitments. This has come at a risk.”
On February 26, 2015, now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph F. Dunford stated, ‘‘[a]pproximately half of our non-deployed units—and those are the ones that provide the bench to respond to unforeseen contingencies—are suffering personnel, equipment and training shortfalls.”
Click here for a copy of the resolution.
