William Hartung Testimony Before House Armed Services Committee

William D. Hartung, director of The New America Foundation's Arms and Security Initiative, will testify before the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats, and Capability tomorrow, Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Hartung plans to tell Congress about six systems that fit President Barack Obama's criteria of "Cold War weapons we don't use - systems irrelevant to current conflicts." He will call for eliminating or steeply cutting back investment in these systems to "free up over $35 billion per year that could be applied to other objectives."  He notes that these steps are crucial "at a time when the greatest threats to our safety are posed by terrorism and other forms of irregular warfare." 

In light of the trillion-dollar-plus deficit facing the nation, and President Obama's retooling of U.S. political and military strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hartung will assert that "the days of the both/and approach to national security spending are over. No longer can we afford to fund Cold War-era weapons, and equipment designed for use in current conflicts, and sophisticated systems destined to address distant threats that may or may not emerge decades down the road all at the same time." 

The F-22 Raptor program ($4 billion in savings), the Virginia-class submarine ($3 billion in savings) and the Zumwalt Class Destroyer will all be identified as unnecessary, while strong arguments to support scaling back the Joint Strike Fighter as well as nuclear weapons and missile defense programs will be presented.

As Hartung notes, "once these cuts are made, the administration will have leeway to invest in diplomacy and foreign economic assistance, key non-military tools of security that have been chronically underfunded."

Representative Adam Smith (D-Washington) chairs the sub-committee. The "Terrorism and the New Age of Irregular Warfare: Challenges and Opportunities," hearing will take place in room 2118 in the Rayburn Building on Thursday, April 2 at 3:30 pm. Members of the public and the media are welcome to attend.

Full text of testimony is available at: http://www.newamerica.net/publications/resources/2009/terrorism_and_new_age_irregular_warfare_challenges_and_opportunities

If you would like to speak to William Hartung, please contact Kate Brown at 202-596-3365 or brown@newamerica.net.

The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.  Headquartered in Washington D.C., New America also has offices in California.

Learn More About: William D. Hartung
Related Programs: American Strategy Program, Arms and Security Initiative
Topics: Foreign Policy