David Weldon: “I rise reluctantly to speak in opposition to sending our the United States Armed Forces into Kosovo. If we look at the…”

“I rise reluctantly to speak in opposition to sending our the United States Armed Forces into Kosovo. If we look at the U.S. military, it is overwhelmingly apparent that the Clinton administration has placed our military budget and the needs of our men and women in uniform on the back burner while greatly increasing the number of overseas deployments. By reducing our national defense budget and failing to provide the funding necessary for training, equipment, and compensation, this administration is eroding morale and troop strength. I cannot, in good conscience, support sending our troops again overseas to support another overseas mission. It is not fair to our troops. It is not fair to our families. Let us review some of the facts on this issue. The number of active duty army divisions has been reduced from 18 to 8. Under the Clinton-Gore administration, the number of fighter wings has gone down from 36 to 20. Our naval forces have been reduced by 30 percent. Today our troops do not have enough ammunition. The Army is short $1.7 billion in ammunition, the marines $193 million. Too many of our men and women in uniform have gone too long without seeing their families, their wives, their husbands, children, and parents. This is having a terrible effect on morale and retention of a fine, qualified, uniformed service.”