DEFENSE SECRETARY PANETTA: OUR DEBT PATH THREATENS OUR NATIONAL SECURITY
WASHINGTON, February 28--In a Budget Committee hearing today, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta agreed with former Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen that the country's debt path represents a grave threat to our national security. He also called on Congress to undo the Budget Control Act sequester mechanism, which he and Sen. Sessions agreed would have a harmful effect on military readiness and capabilities. As Sen. Sessions noted, "We can't just balance this budget on the back of the Defense Department. And if we break faith with those fabulous men and women who have been deployed repeatedly--away from their families, placing their lives at risk--if they see what we've done as disproportionately targeting them for the wasteful Washington spending that's been going on, we would have broken faith with some of the best people this country has produced."