March 1, 2012         

Contact: Mike Ward

Phone: (202) 225-5037

E-mail: Mike.Ward@mail.house.gov

Rokita Statement on Testimony of Secretary Panetta before Budget Committee

Washington, DC – Today Rep. Todd Rokita issued the following statement regarding the testimony of the Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta before the House Budget Committee.

“As our country faces a massive amount of debt to the tune of $15 trillion, I do not believe any area of the federal government is off limits when evaluating spending, including the Department of Defense.

During today’s hearing, I pressed Secretary Panetta on the President’s Department of Defense budget proposal. Throughout his testimony, I was pleased to hear Secretary Panetta’s willingness to continue finding ways to reduce waste in our defense budget.

It is telling of how serious our problems are that Secretary Panetta could only pledge to complete an audit of the Department of Defense by 2017.   It is unthinkable that such a large portion of our federal spending is not subject to taxpayer scrutiny.  It is my expectation this audit will yield real cuts that do not impact the ability for our Servicemen and women from performing their duties.”

Representative Todd Rokita is a Member of the House Budget Committee and represents Indiana’s 4th District.

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