On the recordMay 17, 2012
Unlike my two colleagues, and God bless them for their experience, but they've not served in our military, and they've not served in the United States Army in Europe as I have. So I can challenge the assumptions of the United States Army here. The Cold War has been over with since 1989. We're spending 4.7 percent of our GDP on defense and our European allies, most of them, are spending less than 2 percent. There's an overreliance on the United States, and that's different from being allies. These are not expeditionary forces. These are really, truly relics of the Cold War with no border to defend. So it is time that we take them back. Where is the savings? Well, the savings is in part because there is already an agreement that we are going to draw down the end-strength of our active duty forces. So that certainly fits within that criteria that's already been agreed to. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
