Haley Stevens: “we have faced a dilemma. As we have reduced defense procurement by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years, that has…”

“we have faced a dilemma. As we have reduced defense procurement by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years, that has led to significant overcapacity in the defense industry. But at the same time, we have had the difficulty of trying to ensure the preservation of an industrial base capable of maintaining the strongest military power in the world. Now, without restructuring this industry, that overcapacity would have led to higher overhead costs that would have increased the price of defense goods and services and continued the downward spiral, really, of the amount actually available for acquisition of systems that we need to assure our men and women of the armed services that they have the best in the world to be prepared to defend us with. Restructuring of this defense industry, in my judgment, has reduced the unit prices. We have lower unit prices, and we now have long-term savings for the Department of Defense and the taxpayers as a result of the restructuring.”