Wilson Testifies Before Budget Committee Requesting Resources for Fort Jackson

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) testified today before the House Budget Committee, led by Chairman Tom Price, requesting resources for the Army's training base at Fort Jackson in Columbia as the President's defense sequestration poses a significant threat to the community and economy in South Carolina's Second Congressional District with the downsizing of Army personnel. Click below to view the video of Congressman Wilson speaking in the hearing:

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Excerpts from Congressman Wilson's testimony are included below:

"I represent the Second Congressional District of South Carolina, which includes the Army's training base at Fort Jackson in Columbia, where we welcome recruits from Virginia and from Michigan. I also represent the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in Aiken and Barnwell. Both of these installations are national assets, which provide unique, one-of-a-kind services to our country.

"Fort Jackson is the largest and most active Initial Entry Training Center in the U.S. Army, training thirty-four percent of all Soldiers and sixty-nine percent of women entering the Army each year. That means training in excess of forty-five thousand basic recruits and advanced individual training soldiers every year. Fort Jackson is now beginning to feel the effects of defense sequestration. The base recently lost the Recruiting and Retention School when it was moved to Fort Knox, Kentucky, because significant Army downsizing created excess infrastructure at Fort Knox. The loss of the Recruiting and Retention School separates recruiting from its complementary mission of training.

"The active duty Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve are all expected to downsize significantly due to defense sequestration. The Army has to reduce personnel in order to alleviate the fiscal burden. Training installations, like Fort Jackson, are going to suffer significantly during this downsizing as the base sees fewer recruits entering the service and going through Initial Entry Training at a time when threats are spreading to American families. Also, the permanent party assigned to Fort Jackson, which includes uniformed personnel as well as civilians, will be reduced as the number of recruits is reduced. The current projection, based upon the Army's Programmatic Environmental Assessment, is that Fort Jackson's permanent party footprint could be reduced by 3,100 personnel. This represents a significant impact to Fort Jackson as it promotes its missions of training."

"Your Committee has extremely difficult choices to make. As you begin the Fiscal Year 2016 budgetary process, I ask that you fully consider the critical national security missions being carried out at Fort Jackson as well as the Savannah River Site. The individuals at both installations are dedicated to serving their country and putting the national interest of the United States before themselves. Please continue the tools they need to get the job done and to keep us safe here at home," Congressman Joe Wilson said.