On the recordMay 17, 2012
Madam Speaker, I rise today with great concern over our defense budget. Our crushing national debt looms, yet we continue to ignore the issue. The National Defense Authorization Act came in at $8 billion over the Budget Control Act because the committee put back high-cost items that the Pentagon had not listed as their highest priority. How is that responsible spending? When the issue arises as to what to cut, what must make up that difference to make the numbers work, what will come first? Will our military personnel accounts be under the knife? I do not believe that this is smart legislating, when we choose to ignore the current fiscal environment. And when we raised concerns on the plans to build a missile defense site on the east coast with money we do not have, the Rules Committee would not even allow it up for debate. Shouldn't we be discussing these issues so that we can move forward, so that we can come to an agreement on how the Department of Defense and our servicemembers are best served? ____________________
