To the Editor:
At a time when budgets are tight, and programs and services in our community are being cut back, the Pentagon budget keeps getting bigger. The Secretary of Defense announced on Jan. 26 that he plans to slow the rate of growth for the Pentagon budget, but even under this proposal in 10 years the Pentagon budget would still be bigger than it is today.
I hope that our members of Congress — U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, and Senators Webb and Warner — will stick with the current law, which requires the Pentagon to cut its budget by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade — twice what the Secretary is proposing.
Over the last decade, the Pentagon budget has grown by 100 percent. Some of that growth was to pay for the wars, but a lot of it went right into the Pentagon budget. Right now, we are all having to cut back. The Pentagon should have to as well.
William Zaccagnino
Alexandria