On the recordJuly 6, 2011
My amendment would reduce the operating budget of the Office of the Defense Secretary by 10 percent, moving roughly $217 million to the spending reduction account. I have spent a considerable amount of time here on the floor of the House during this appropriations process working hard to find spending cuts across every level of the Federal Government and across nearly every agency. The Office of the Secretary has roughly $2.1 billion included in this bill for its operation for this fiscal year, which is four times the combined operating budget of the Secretaries in our three previous fiscal year 12 appropriations bills. {time} 1440 I understand the challenges that the Secretary of Defense faces on a daily basis and the enormity of the department he is tasked with overseeing, but even the Department of Defense must do its part to reduce the deficit. I urge support of this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
