Barbara Lee: “I thank Congressman Pocan for yielding and for his tremendous, bold, and visionary leadership. As we stand here today…”

“I thank Congressman Pocan for yielding and for his tremendous, bold, and visionary leadership. As we stand here today, 142,000 people in America are dead from COVID and millions have suffered from the disease or the economic dislocation which it has caused. The Federal response has been weak, it has been late, and it has been confused. Meanwhile, this House stands poised to pour three-quarters of a trillion dollars into a defense establishment that is unauditable, unaccountable, and does little to answer the basic threats to the safety and welfare of our people. The Pentagon is the only Federal department that has never passed an audit, despite this requirement being on the books for 30 years. It is not hard to find places to cut this budget. The Pentagon could save almost $58 billion just by eliminating obsolete weapons, weapons like Cold War-era bombers and missiles designed and built in the last century that are totally unsuitable for the challenges of this century. We could find another $18 billion simply by preventing the end-of- year spending sprees that lead to contract money being shoveled out the door in September. Congressional Research Service documented these spending spikes occurring each September as offices at the Pentagon go on a last-minute spending spree to justify their next-year budget increases.…”