Lateefah Simon: “let me point out what is happening in defense spending. Here is the United States. Here are the next five countries in…”

“let me point out what is happening in defense spending. Here is the United States. Here are the next five countries in defense spending: Russia, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. We are spending more on defense than the next five countries combined. The cold war is over, as Senator Exon just pointed out. Let me take you back to the year when Senator Grassley and I came to Congress, fiscal year 1975. Do you know what the defense budget was then adjusted for inflation? It was $234 billion, $32 billion less than we are requesting here. Then we faced the nuclear confrontation with the Soviets. We had a war in Vietnam, as my friend from Iowa will remember. We had all kinds of challenges. Today we do not need to spend anywhere near this amount. If we were to cut the defense budget in half--and I do not advocate that--but if we were to do that, we would still be spending appreciably more than any other country on the face of the Earth. A little prudence as this amendment suggests is just common sense. I hope the Senate will listen to our friend from Iowa with his amendment. I am proud to be a cosponsor of it. I think it makes sense fiscally. I think it makes sense from the viewpoint of what we ought to be doing in the defense area. So, Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the Grassley amendment, and I hope there will be enough Senators who say let us look at our real needs. Let us look at our deficit situation.”