On the recordNovember 5, 2015
I thank the Chair. Waste of the Week Madam President, this is my weekly ``Waste of the Week'' speech. It is time for another one. Let me just say up front this involves Department of Defense spending. Now, I am a strong advocate. I am an Army veteran. I have served on the Senate Armed Services Committee for nearly two terms. I am a strong advocate of a strong national defense, but it doesn't mean we give a blank check to the Department of Defense. It means we have to scrutinize their expenditures and their engagement in spending taxpayers' dollars just as carefully as we scrutinize every other agency. Everybody is involved in terms of finding the best and most effective way of using taxpayer dollars, hopefully without going into debt to do so and hopefully directed to those issues of priority and necessity that we have to fund. The Department of Defense of course is one of those. Although, as I said, it doesn't mean they get a blank check. I am deeply disappointed that my Democratic friends across the aisle have denied us the opportunity to take up the Department of Defense appropriations bill, where we would have the opportunity to offer amendments to strike money or to save money that could be used for essential, necessary efforts in spending by the Department of Defense. Clearly every agency has to do some triage if we are ever going to get control of our out-of-control budget and our out-of-control plunge into deficit spending year after year, with the debt ever growing.…
