Welcomes Chairman Randy Forbes to Big Sky Country
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today announced a town-hall style listening session to be co-hosted with Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-04), Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee of the House Committee on Armed Services. The “Defending our Defenders” town hall series addresses automatic defense spending cuts called sequestration, which will threaten both Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Montana Air National Guard. The meeting, which is open to the public and will feature a moderated open-mic, will be held in Heritage Hall at the MSU College of Technology in Great Falls at 9 am on Monday, July 16.
“By now, most folks in the Great Falls community are aware of the risks associated with President Obama’s New START nuclear reductions, and the mission musical chairs we’re playing with the Montana Air National Guard,” said Rehberg. “But there’s another threat looming on the horizon, and it’s one that puts our entire defense apparatus at serious risk. Someone has got to defend those who we ask to defend our liberty, and that’s what these meetings are all about.”
As part of the political deal hatched to allow President Obama to raise the debt ceiling again, Congress created a so-called “Supercommittee” to find $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. Unfortunately, with reductions of Obamacare spending off the table, the Supercommittee was unable to find necessary cuts.
As the result of that failure, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts – called sequestration – will go into effect on January 1 if Congress fails to act. Half of those cuts will be made to Defense spending, which supports, among other things, Malmstrom and MANG.
Rehberg was the only member of Montana’s delegation to vote against raising the debt limit and creating a Supercommittee whose inevitable failure would lead to sequestration.
The “Defending our Defenders” town hall series is part of a larger House Armed Services Committee effort spearheaded by Forbes to raise awareness about the impact of existing and impending defense cuts to national defense and the U.S. military. The Great Falls event is designed to engage local citizens, veterans, and representatives from defense and industrial communities and organizations.
More information at: http://www.defendingourdefenders.com
More information about the Great Falls event on Rehberg’s website: http://rehberg.house.gov/defending-our-defenders
Participants are encouraged to register at Eventbrite: http://defendingourdefendersmt.eventbrite.com
People can RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/172740682858027/
A PDF Invite is available for download: http://rehberg.house.gov/uploads/DefendingOurDefenders_Invite.pdf
