Ronald Dellums: “Mr. Chairman, with the end of the cold war, with the demise of the Warsaw Pact and the evisceration of the Soviet Union…”

“Mr. Chairman, with the end of the cold war, with the demise of the Warsaw Pact and the evisceration of the Soviet Union, what drove 70 percent of the budget is now no longer a major threat. Yet, in fiscal year 1996 we are contemplating spending 75 percent of what we spent in 1990. Stated a different way, Mr. Chairman, in fiscal year 1996 we will be spending almost as much as the entire world military budget combined in 1 year. If we add what we spend, what our allies in Asia and Europe spend, we will be spending in excess of 80 percent of the world's military budget allocation, so even those persons who potentially could be adversaries to us are spending less than 20 percent of their dollars. Where is the threat? To talk about some weak nation, we are the No. 1 superpower in the world with the greatest military capability in the world, with the greatest readiness in the world, and we are spending exorbitant amounts of money on our military budget.”