Webb Secures Senate Hearing on JFCOM, Other DOD Efficiency Initiatives

Calls for Suspension of Further Action by the President or DoD Until Congress Reviews Sec. Gates’ Proposals

 Washington, D.C. – Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services (SASC), agreed to Senator Jim Webb’s request for a full Committee hearing on Secretary of Defense Gates’ recommendation to eliminate the U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) in Norfolk, Virginia. The hearing will also cover the full range of efficiency initiatives announced by Secretary Gates August 9, 2010.

The hearing will be scheduled when the Senate reconvenes in September.

“I commend Chairman Levin for agreeing to schedule this important hearing on the future of JFCOM and the additional efficiency initiatives announced by Secretary Gates,” said Webb, who chairs the Senate Committee on Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee. “Congress has an essential constitutional oversight role in such matters. I believe that further action by the President or Secretary Gates should be suspended until Congress has had ample opportunity to review the full scope of the Secretary’s actions.”

In his response to Senator Webb’s request, Chairman Levin said, “I share the Secretary’s objectives of reducing ‘duplication, overhead, and excess in the defense enterprise,’ and instilling ‘a culture of savings and restraint’ across the Department of Defense. At the same time, I agree that the far-reaching initiatives announced by the Secretary deserve close scrutiny from our Committee.”

On August 13, Senator Webb and other members of the Virginia delegation sent a letter to Secretary Gates expressing grave reservations about the recommendations to realign JFCOM. The delegation letter, which was signed by Senator Mark Warner and Representatives Glenn Nye, Bobby Scott, Rob Wittman, and Randy Forbes, urged a more complete review of JFCOM’s mission and activities without a predisposed intent to close the command.  The letter also said that any recommendation to close JFCOM should only be made as part of a BRAC or Title 10 USC 2687 statutory process.

“The White House and the Secretary’s lack of prior consultation with Congress on his entire set of recommendations is deeply troubling,” Senator Webb said.  “The Department of Defense has declined for two weeks to provide any additional details regarding the decision to close JFCOM.  The committee’s hearing will afford us the opportunity to receive answers to the many questions that, for whatever reason, Secretary Gates has declined to provide since he announced his initiatives.”