Washington, D.C. – Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02), a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General who serves on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) is raising the alarm about a lack of understanding in Congress regarding the impact of a continuing resolution (CR) on our nation’s military. A continuing resolution extends the current budget numbers, without consideration of increased expenditures. Although the House and Senate both authorized a $25 billion dollar increase to the defense budget above what the President requested for fiscal year 2022, this funding cannot be spent by law without an accompanying appropriation from Congress.

“Leaders in the Democrat Party have displayed a clear lack of urgency by stalling passage of the defense appropriations bill, diverting focus instead to salvaging what they can from their massive spending bill and federal election takeover legislation,” said Rep. Bacon. “As a result of this political shell-game, our government is not able to pay all of the bills.”

 Five months into the fiscal year, the military is paying today’s bills at last year’s funding levels amid historic inflation levels including a 30 percent rise in fuel costs. Most concerning, the 2.7 percent pay increase for those serving our country remains unfunded without an appropriation bill.

“This is especially concerning when junior enlisted  service members  are having to use food stamps to put food on the table,” added Bacon.

Bacon also noted the paralyzing impact a CR has on the modernization efforts of our military.

“Our nation, our values, and our allies face growing threats from increasingly confident competitors. Last summer the Chinese Communist Party launched a nuclear capable hypersonic weapon designed to orbit the earth and evade U.S. missile defenses,” he said. “That should have been a wakeup call to our nation.” 

Under a CR, the Department of Defense cannot start new programs including over 100 military construction projects that affect installation readiness and quality of life for service members and their families. 

Department of Defense leadership has consistently warned that operating without stable, consistent appropriations cedes rapidly vanishing military advantage to formidable adversaries who threaten America in air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace.

“While China operationalizes nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles, an extended CR stalls $400 million in Air Force hypersonic initiatives, which are still in the early development phase,” said Bacon. “Let that sink in-- our great nation is already behind China in hypersonic technologies, and the CR sets us further behind.” 

Some of the most concerning delays caused by the CR affect this nation’s nuclear deterrent – the means by which we persuade adversaries they will not survive a nuclear attack on the United States. A yearlong CR eliminates $1.1 billion in engineering and manufacturing for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD)—the replacement for the remnant of Minute Man III ICBMs deployed in the 1970s, which now cost more to maintain than to replace. This loss of funding impacts maturation of critical technologies and missile test capabilities, ultimately pushing GBSD’s operational date passed 2029. Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party is projected to grow its number of ICBMs capable of threatening the United States by more than 200 in the next 5 years. 

Another critical component of our nation’s nuclear triad is the B-21. The CR could delay B-21 operating capability and nuclear certification by up to a year. Even a six month CR holds up six B-21 infrastructure projects, to include flight simulators, aircraft hangars, and operations facilities that are needed to maintain and fly the B-21. When it comes to deterring a nuclear attack on the United States and its allies, delays to our fundamental nuclear capabilities are simply unacceptable.

“I urge the leaders of the House and Senate to immediately prioritize passage of the annual defense appropriation, in fulfillment of our duty as a Congress to provide for the common defense,” said Bacon. “In an era of strategic competition, we cannot afford delays, and we can’t buy back time. I also urge Americans to reach out to their Representatives. We all have a role to play in the defense of our nation. We all have a voice. In a world where we cede our military advantage to authoritarian governments, that won’t be the case.” 

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