Chris Dodd: “Today I will join my colleagues in voting to approve the 2004 Defense authorization bill. This legislation provides a…”

“Today I will join my colleagues in voting to approve the 2004 Defense authorization bill. This legislation provides a significant increase to our defense budget, a total of $400.5 billion, $17.9 billion more than was authorized for this year. This is the largest defense budget in our Nation's history, and, for the most part, it could not come at a more important time. This bill is good for our armed services, and crucial for the security of our country. Above all else, it makes a substantial investment in our military's most important assets--our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. It provides a 3.7 percent across-the-board pay raise for all men and women in uniform and introduces a new health care benefit to Reserve and National Guard personnel. In addition, it funds important national security programs to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction, with $450 million going towards the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program to safeguard nuclear stockpiles and fissile material within the former Soviet Union.”