Taxpayer Coalition Applauds House for De-funding the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS)

The House of Representatives is poised to pass the National Defense Authorization Act this week.  The final Authorization bill totals $554.2 billion, $8 billion above the caps set in the Budget Control Act agreed to last year.  The Appropriations Committee identified billions in unnecessary spending, bringing their bill in $45 billion below the Armed Services Committee mark. One of the bright spots of the bill was that the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) was not funded. Even though the Army doesn’t want the project, there was an additional $800 million allocated for MEADS through 2013 (including $400 million in President Obama’s latest budget). One of the biggest roadblocks to halting the program was the potential termination costs to be incurred by American taxpayers.  However, a new report by the Pentagon shows Congress that they can defund the program without the fear of termination costs.  The Taxpayers Protection Alliance co-signed a letter (read here) with Americans for Tax Reform, the Cost of Government Center and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste to applaud the steps that the House Armed Services Committee has made to eliminate waste and urge them to inject more restraint in defense spending.

Full letter below:

The Honoarble Buck McKeon
Chairman, House Armed Services Committee
Washington, D.C.

Dear Chairman McKeon,

As the House of Representatives moves to consider the National Defense Authorization Act this week, we write to urge lawmakers to pursue reform in military spending.  We firmly believe the country will be unable to provide for its common defense if spending restraint is not considered an equally important national security imperative.

It is time lawmakers dispose of the myth that increased spending equivocates with increased security. In fact, in today’s fiscal climate, nothing could be further from the truth. The final Authorization bill totals $554.2 billion, $8 billion above the caps set in the Budget Control Act (BCA) agreed to last year.  Policymakers should be emboldened by the commonsense constraints in the BCA to spend smarter, rather than use them as an excuse to protect waste.

What’s more, the Committee report is grossly out of line with the Appropriations bill. Lawmakers truly interested in providing for the national defense should be loath to protect earmarks and budget waste, imperiling efficient passage of an Authorization bill.

The Appropriations Committee identified billions in unnecessary spending, bringing their bill in $45 billion below the Armed Services Committee mark. Recognizing that inertia is a poor justification for policy, the committee axed $400.9 million for the Medium Extended Altitude Defense System (MEADS), a program that has been plagued by cost overruns and drawn resources away from more effective missile defense initiatives.

We applaud the Armed Services Committee for also refusing to allow funds for this defunct program. We urge members, as leaders on smart defense spending decisions, to resist any effort to reinstate funds for what has become a symbol for parochial defense spending waste.

However, other efforts to reform the bias for unaccountable defense spending are not included in the bill. Absent are requirements for broader and more comprehensive audits, as well as serious inspection of exploding procurement costs. These initiatives must become part of the discussion if taxpayers are ever to be confident their dollars are supporting the most streamlined and effective military possible.

We applaud the steps you have made to eliminate waste and request you strive to instill more restraint in defense spending. Your effort to eliminate the wasteful MEADS system is an encouraging signal that we can work together to root out waste in defense budgets. We look forward to doing so as the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 winds its way through Congress.

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

Mattie Duppler, Executive Director, Cost of Government Center

Tom Schatz, President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

David Williams, President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance