McKeon to Appear on C-SPAN’s Newsmakers This Sunday

Apr 15, 2011
Defense Drumbeat
Washington, D.C. (April 15, 2011)—Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) will appear on C-SPAN’s Newsmakers program this Sunday, April 17, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. 

Rick Maze, Congressional Editor for the Army Times, participated in the interview and provided a preview of what viewers will hear during the news program.

Excerpts include:

  • “The powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee downplays the significance of the Obama administration’s call for a $400 billion cut over 10 years in the defense budget, saying the number seems to him to have been ‘pulled out of a hat.’”
  • “In an interview taped for the C-SPAN Newsmaker program, which airs on April 17, Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said the deficit reduction proposal made by Obama on Wednesday appears to be more of a political document than a serious effort to change the defense budget. ‘I am really hoping that was just an opening shot in a presidential campaign,’ McKeon said.”
  • “To make a cut of that magnitude—something McKeon doesn’t support—would require a review of roles and missions and a decision on what kinds of things the military would no longer do.”
  • “’It is ludicrous to think that out of a $550 billion budget, you cannot find some savings,’ McKeon said. ‘My concern is that when we are fighting two wars and also engaged in Libya, that is not a great time to be cutting our military.’”

In addition to watching the Newsmaker program on C-SPAN on Sunday, you can also watch online by visiting C-SPAN’s website.

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112th Congress