On the recordMay 25, 2011
I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding. I also thank the gentleman from Colorado for raising this issue and particularly for questioning our military forward-basing in Europe. I think it's certainly time to do that. I'm not sure about the 30,000 number, but I question whether our NATO allies are dedicating the appropriate percentage, in terms of their budgets, towards maintaining defense and not becoming far too reliant upon the United States. Where I differ in the amendment is with this arbitrary reduction of 10,000 a year for 5 years. The Secretary of Defense, I think, has thoughtfully put forward a plan that would, based on conditions, reduce the United States Army's end strength by 27,000 in FY 2015-2016; and the United States Marine Corps is somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000, in that same fiscal year, based on conditions. So I certainly oppose the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Ohio has 1 minute remaining.
