Lawmakers want Army assurance
WASHINGTON — The Army isn't saying yet whether the funds being restored to Army installations are enough to avert all of the $36 million in cuts contemplated at Fort Drum.
Army Secretary John M. McHugh and Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. announced Friday that the Army would add $500 million to base operations, which Gen. Casey said fills about a third of the money the Army had slashed from its own operations and maintenance accounts nationwide.
In light of the uncertainty, Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Rep. William L. Owens said Monday they want the Army to go further and assure that all of the cuts at Fort Drum will be reversed.
"Friday's announcement by the Army to reverse $500 million in cuts to our country's bases means that we have cleared a significant hurdle in reversing the cuts to Fort Drum," Mr. Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a press release. "I have asked the Army to commit to using this $500 million to completely reverse the cuts to Fort Drum, and I'm hopeful that they will do so."
Mr. Owens has been in talks with the Army's installation command, which in turn has been in discussion with Fort Drum about the base's operations budget. At issue are about $10 million in savings that Fort Drum officials identified in cooperation with the Army, plus about a $26 million cut ordered from the Pentagon, congressional offices have been told.
Should Friday's announcement cover the $26 million, roughly, lawmakers would greet that as a significant victory that would stave off job losses. While some of the cuts identified at Fort Drum do not appear to have major impacts, the cancellation of maintenance contracts with the Jefferson Rehabilitation Center was expected to affect jobs that are filled by the center's disabled clients.
Fort Drum supporters have been working with a figure of $28 million to be restored, based on a percentage of the overall funding slated to be returned to operations accounts.
Mr. Owens and Mr. Schumer are not alone among lawmakers working on the issue. Other members of Congress with military installations in their districts complained to the Army, including Republican Reps. Marsha Blackburn and Zach Wamp of Tennessee, who met with Army officials on Thursday to urge that cuts be averted.
A spokesman for the Army Installation Command on Friday promised an update on the Army's plans but had not provided one by Monday night; the federal government remained closed Monday following Washington's weekend blizzard.
The announcement by Mr. McHugh and Gen. Casey did not indicate how officials found money to reverse the cuts, but Gen. Casey hinted Friday in a speech at Fort Campbell, Ky., that the cuts resulted from overzealous decisions by Army bureaucrats.
He told troops that officials were looking for ways to be more efficient — the war effort is stretching the Army's budget — and "went too far."
"So what we are doing is restoring about a third of what we took out," Gen. Casey said.
The Army Public Affairs Office on Friday issued a press release announcing the $500 million in funding, describing it as a budget increase but making no mention of the cuts it was intended to partially reverse.
"We will continue to look for efficiencies and best practices, but the bottom line is we will not shortchange our soldiers and their families," Mr. Schumer said in the press release.
