Is this my Last Letter from Feingold?

Dear Mr. Schaefer,



Thank you for contacting me regarding the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (the "Commission") and defense spending. I appreciate hearing from you.



On February 18, 2010, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13531, creating the Commission. President Obama appointed Senator Alan Simpson, formerly a Republican Senator from Wyoming and Erskine Bowles, formerly President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff, to co-chair the Commission. Neither Senator Simpson nor Mr. Bowles required Senate confirmation in order to assume their positions. Should legislation be developed based on the recommendations of the Commission, I will be certain to keep your thoughts in mind.



You also contacted me regarding defense spending. We owe our military personnel and their families our support. I will continue to work to ensure that our troops and their families have the resources that they need, both to combat our adversaries and to provide for their families, during this challenging time.



President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have recommended several changes in defense spending to ensure that we are allocating sufficient funds for current military operations. It is important that the Department of Defense maintain the ability to deter and defeat the current and possible future threats to our country.



You may be interested to know that S. 1390, the Defense Authorization Act of 2010, passed the Senate on July 23, 2009. Members of the House and Senate are meeting to draft a final version of this bill. I was pleased to be a cosponsor of an amendment to S. 1390, offered by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), to strike $1.75 billion in funding for F-22 aircraft procurement by the U.S. Air Force. The Senate's passage of this amendment is a victory for the Armed Forces and American taxpayers. Now defense dollars can be freed up to address real world threats and fill gaps in our defense capabilities.



I have been a strong advocate for better oversight of our defense and military spending. Recently, I offered an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 budget resolution to set aside funds in the defense budget to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in defense spending. I was pleased that the Senate Budget committee adopted my amendment. This amendment supports the efforts of the Senate Armed Services Committee and others to reform our acquisition process, through such efforts as increased competition among contractors, testing and prototyping, and oversight of weapons development. In addition to the ongoing efforts to reform the acquisition process, this amendment could support further auditing and investigations. This amendment will help increase critical oversight activities over the record levels of defense spending.

Thank you again for contacting me. I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Sincerely,

Russell D. Feingold
United States Senator