On the recordJune 16, 2016
We have to ask ourselves: At what point does additional marginal dollars spent on defense make our country less secure by making us economically beholden to Saudi Arabia, China, and other nations? As the gentlewoman from California mentioned, defense spending has ballooned, more than 50 percent increases. Every additional dollar we spend is not a dollar we have. It is a dollar we borrow, a dollar we borrow from people overseas, and a dollar we borrow from future Americans and our children. How can we look our children in the face today by spending the money that they are going to be earning over their lives now, when we already spend as much as the rest of the world combined on defense, including our allies? If you add in our European allies and Asian allies, that is more than three quarters of global defense spending. At what point is enough enough? I personally support a 3 percent cut, a 5 percent cut. I am on the record saying so. This is a modest compromise. It is still above the budget cap levels. I hope everybody in this body supports this modest step toward our national security. I yield back the balance of my time.
