Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.), a prominent lawmaker on defense issues, criticized President Obama on Tuesday for threatening to veto a national defense bill and thus potentially delay several vital ship and aircraft programs for the U.S. military during a period of global instability.
Forbes, who is chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee in the House, said at the Heritage Foundation that Obama’s rejection of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would send a signal to American adversaries that the United States is not prepared to project power abroad and deter aggression. The national defense act, separate from the actual defense appropriations bill, authorizes numerous benefit and equipment programs for the military.
"[President Obama says] we’re going to be strong around the globe, but then says this: ‘I am going to veto the very bill that authorizes my military unless I can get what I want on the Internal Revenue Service, EPA,’ and all those other things," Forbes said.
"The impact of vetoing that bill, which may very well happen within weeks, is we’ll lose three destroyers, two attack subs, three littoral combat ships, an amphibious ship, and we’ll delay the Air Force bomber program, and the Air Force tanker program. And you have to say, what kind of image is that putting around the globe?"
The Senate voted on Tuesday to end debate on the national defense bill, meaning the legislation could soon reach Obama’s desk. It remains unclear whether enough Democrats would join Republicans to override Obama’s veto, though Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has said they would not.
Obama has repeatedly threatened to veto the act because it leaves in place spending caps known as sequestration. While Republicans worked around the caps by adding money to a fund for fighting wars abroad, the president says domestic programs should also receive more funding.
Analysts say this year’s defense bill contains some of the most significant reforms to the Department of Defense in decades, including measures to cut the Pentagon bureaucracy and modify retirement benefits.
Postponing the procurement of new equipment, Forbes said, will have a real impact in areas such as the Asia-Pacific region. China has expanded its Coast Guard fleet by 25 percent in recent years and constructed about 3,000 acres of artificial islands in the South China Sea, sparking fears among U.S. allies that also have territorial claims in the region.
China primarily uses Coast Guard ships to patrol the South China Sea.
"They are only about 60 ships short in their Coast Guard of what we have in our Navy," Forbes said. "And yet they have the strategic advantage because we don’t have a good strategy for coping with how they use their Coast Guard right now, because we don’t want to escalate by bringing more of our Naval ships."
Obama’s failure to sign the defense bill will add to the global perception that America has withdrawn from the world, he said.
"I’ve never in my career had more world leaders, whether it’s the actual leader of the country or their ambassador or their defense minister, coming to visit me than I’ve had in the last two years," he said. "And to the person, they send out their staff, which is not what they normally do, and they look at me and say we don’t have a clue what the American strategy is."