GOP roadshow: Senators pound on need to stave off defense cuts

A trio of the Senate’s leading GOP defense hawks have a message about cuts in military spending, slated for Jan. 1: Under no circumstances can America sustain them – and Republicans are willing to give up sacred ground on taxes to make sure they don’t occur.

“We are willing to compromise,” said Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona, who as a Vietnam War hero was given a roaring welcome in Norfolk, Va. – the heart of the US congressional district with the largest concentration of military installations. “We are not wedded to any one position because there is too much at stake. So I am asking you to get into the fight.”

Senator McCain was joined by fellow Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a threesome that has frequently taken to the floor of the Senate to decry the impact of $55 billion in looming defense-spending reductions. The area’s member of Congress, Rep. Scott Rigell (R), was also in attendance Monday evening.

The town hall was the third stop in the trio’s “Preserving America’s Strength” tour, which included earlier discussions in Tampa, Fla., and Fayetteville, N.C. On Tuesday, the group was to hold a final meeting in Merrimack, N.H. In Norfolk, they were greeted by some 200 listeners who were largely older and affiliated with the armed services.

Many said they came to the speech because they fear what the defense cuts would mean for their community.

“These are our Fortune 500 companies,” said Lynne Uher of Virginia Beach.

One defense-industry-funded study showed roughly 1 million jobs at risk if the cuts happen, although Virginia and Florida were the only states on the “America’s Strength” trip to make the Top 10. The Sunshine State was fourth with more than 49,000 potential job losses. Virginia was seventh with some 37,000.

The cuts are part of the sequester – Washington shorthand for the automatic spending reductions mandated by the Budget Control Act, which ended last summer’s debt-ceiling fight. McCain voted for the bill; Senators Ayotte and Graham joined 17 other Republicans in voting against it.

1 | 2 | 3

Next