On Tuesday, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) urged Congress to pass a “full-year whole of government funding bill” before the end of the year.
In a letter to congressional leadership, the association said another year of short-term funding via a continuing resolution (CR) could damage America’s military, national security, and global competitiveness.
“When our current CR expires on December 16, 2022, our government’s critical functions will have been in a fiscal “holding pattern” for the first 10 weeks of fiscal year 2023,” AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning said in his letter. “As Secretary of the Army, I experienced firsthand how CRs strain the way a department operates. They force organizations to avoid needed new projects and cause agencies to reserve resources or spread them across multiple scenarios instead of focusing on a single optimal plan.”
Fanning said the military and other agencies have already waited 10 weeks to start new programs and make critically needed new purchases for activities already approved by Congress in the FY 23 appropriations process.
“We all know that CRs are often used as a short-term solution to shutdowns, but they create their own significant problems, especially for our military,” Fanning wrote. “As Secretary of Defense Austin recently wrote, the current CR has disrupted the lives of military families and undermined the ability to recruit personnel in an already challenging environment. It has also delayed much-needed investment in our industrial base and denied military advancement in critical areas like space and naval ship construction. Moreover, stopgap funding measures like the current CR imperil the defense industry’s ability to deliver to the customer, which in turn, compromises the capabilities and services delivered to the warfighter.”
Fanning said the delays impede scientific innovation and economic progress to keep the United States competitive in the global market and slow down updates to key safety programs.
Fanning said funding the government for a full year was within Congress’s power.
“While many events in the world are uncertain and unforeseeable, funding our government is completely within Congress’ control,” he said. “ Congress must not delay any longer. China doesn’t shut down its government or disrupt its programs throughout the fiscal year. To stay competitive, neither should we.”