GOP Rep.: Security holes at Navy Yard predated sequester
09/17/13 05:39 PM ET
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Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), a senior Rep. Turner member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that the sequester was not to blame for the Navy Yard shooter gaining access to the base.
“This predates sequestration,” Turner said on CNN’s The Lead. “I think sequestration has become sort of a buzz word for budgetary constraints.”
On Monday, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray speculated that former military contractor Aaron Alexis, whose rampage killed 12 and wounded several others on Monday, slipped through the Navy’s background checks process because of the sequester.
Alexis suffered from mental problems and had a record of arrests, but the Navy reservist was still granted access to the Navy Yard.
However, some in Congress have pointed out that the Navy has also been grappling with budgetary cutbacks that stemmed from the 2011 Budget Control Act, which slashed $487 billion from the Pentagon’s budget.
“Again, the IG in their report have the Navy specifically talking about budgetary constraints for their new processes, and the IG raises the issue of how does the Navy look at the issue of balance both security risks and budgetary constraints,” Turner continued.
“But I think this really does go to the heart of what we’re trying to do in the Department of Defense, finding smart ways to do things, but at the same time, lower risks. Security is really not an area that should at all suffer as we look at the way cuts might be able to be found.”
The across-the-board sequestration cuts reduced the military’s 2013 budget by $37 billion.
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