Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Senate appropriators today that a stopgap continuing resolution would seriously hinder key weapons modernization programs needed to compete with China, including a $9.7 billion pause in Navy shipbuilding. “Under a CR, we are prohibited from undertaking new initiatives, which effectively freezes our efforts to transform our military to meet the [People's Republic of China’s] challenge,” he said in written testimony submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee . Specifically, Austin said, a CR would prevent the...
