Dan Coats: “The President's proposed defense budget of $254 billion is, in my opinion, the epitome of a mindset that has been…”

“The President's proposed defense budget of $254 billion is, in my opinion, the epitome of a mindset that has been prevalent throughout the Congress and this administration that the military can do more with less. Not only does this budget figure as has been proposed to us constitute the 12th consecutive year of decline for defense spending but it flies squarely in the face of his many pledges and commitments to ensure a strong national defense, and at the same time in the face of this declining figure of 12 straight years our military is being asked to do more and more, to be prepared to do more, and actually is committed to more conflicts and more deployments around the world than it has in a long, long time. This year's defense budget is a disavowal of that pledge--that falls far short of meeting many of the needs of our Armed Forces. But the President's rhetoric in this instance, as in many other instances and many other issues, simply does not match the record.”