WASHINGTON — The Aerospace Industrial Association is panning the prospect of another stopgap measure to fund the federal government into 2017.
In a letter to the leadership in the House and Senate made public today, the influential defense industry group urged Congress to pass a completed fiscal 2017 appropriation package in the ongoing lame duck session rather than a full-year continuing resolution.
AIA CEO David Melcher led the Nov. 15 letter signed by 15 defense firm CEO’s in total. It was to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; House Majority Leader Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif.
The letter comes as House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said Nov. 17 that leaders in both congressional chambers made the decision not to move forward with any long-term spending bills for the rest of this year, delaying resolution on the defense budget for fiscal 2017 until at least April of next year.
The AIA letter noted that its 320 members’ supply chain is an economic engine and “arguably the most successful sector in our country and contributes significantly to our nation’s economic growth, stability, and national security.” That provides 13 percent of the nation’s manufacturing employment and generated a trade surplus of $81 billion in 2015.
“This record of success [was] developed during a time of great uncertainty and instability in both the marketplace and with regard to annual government funding,” the letter reads, adding: “Few things could provide a greater sense of stability for our industry going forward
than completing final FY 17 appropriations bills.”
Lawmakers, unable to reach a deal on a federal budget for fiscal 2017, passed a stopgap measure before the end of the 2016 fiscal year Sept 30. That measure expires Dec. 9.
In recent weeks, defense lawmakers and Pentagon officials have warned that a temporary budget plan could be harmful to military operations, given the spending restrictions it places on new program starts and expansions.
Last week, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said he was still hopeful another stopgap budget resolution could be avoided.
“For defense, CRs are always bad,” Thornberry said, “and the longer they are the more damage they do.”
Email: jgould@defensenews.com
Twitter: @reporterjoe
