Congressman Ike Skelton Speaks

Congressman Ike Skelton sat on the armed services committee for more than three decades and knows first hand the importance of military to our national security.But recent budget cuts causes him to fear that quality will deteriorate.The Congressman spoke before a crowd on the MU campus today focusing on the history of nation’s military and security. He talked his opinion about the expected 500 billion in cuts planned for our military over the next ten years. “What concerns me is after sequestration which is causing great deal to our military, after its enforced and allowed to stay enforced for a period of time, it will weaken our military,” Congressman Stelton says. He says our military needs one core group of individuals for success those steeped in leadership and history, a group he fears will be forced to retire early because of the cuts or will prevent future leaders from ever joining.When asked when we should expect to see an effect of the budget cuts, he says we already have. It’s going to have a psychological effects. Many of the civilian employees are going to be fired or furloughed and civilian leaders really do an awful lot in keeping this structure together. Congressman Skelton says looking back at our history, things have certainly been worse. These cuts will have a negative effect on the future. In missouri, both Whiteman Air Force base and Fort Leonard Wood will see cuts in the millions where civil workers will be furroughed at least one day of their work week resulting in a 20 percent paycut.