Center for a New American Security

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Washington, D.C., February 25, 2011 — Amid ongoing economic and fiscal pressure, the Pentagon must continue to improve efficiency and productivity in defense spending and manage the defense budget responsibly, said Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, in a speech hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) on February 22, 2011.

Read the full transcript of Dr. Carter’s speech, “Doing More Without More: Obtaining Efficiency and Productivity in Defense Spending.” Watch a video or listen to the podcast of his remarks. CNAS podcasts and videos are also available on YouTube and iTunes.

CNAS featured Dr. Carter one week after the Department of Defense released its FY 2012 budget request. CNAS Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel Fick said, “The world has changed. The industry has changed. It falls on Dr. Carter, among others, to help frame our response to this new world and align the needs of war fighters and the obligations to taxpayers with the imperative of maintaining a thriving and competitive defense industrial base as a strategic national asset.”

During his remarks, Dr. Carter addressed the problem with running the Department under a continuing resolution, “We are managing the department’s affairs under a continuing resolution until at least March 4,” he said. “And what that means is that each and every program manager in the department is having to upset carefully calibrated plans, stop or slow activities only to restart them later, defer the commencement of important new programs, and so on. The result is not only delay. It is inefficient and uneconomical.” He also spoke about the need to build military capabilities in a time-efficient manner and for the “money the country can afford to give us ... We are in the habit of taking forever, and forever costs an awful lot." 

Dr. Carter also touched on the U.S. government’s commitment to export control reform, and said that "it is in our interest" both for economic reasons and to build the military capacities of international partners. "When we make it difficult for people, they just give up and go somewhere else to get the equipment they need," he said. 

The Center for a New American Security was honored to host Dr. Carter as part of the National Security Leaders Forum event series, a platform for senior civilian and military leaders to address the Washington policy community on the most important national security issues of the day.