On the recordMarch 25, 2015
I will just point out really quickly that I appreciate the other side's compliments on how we budget for defense, but let's remember this, that defense is only 18 percent of the overall Federal Government spending. As you see on this pie chart, this is defense discretionary spending right here, $596 billion. This is nondefense discretionary spending. The rest of this pie, which is the rest of the $3.5 trillion in Federal Government spending, is untouched. It is on autopilot. Here is the interest. All of these programs continue to grow. If we don't protect these programs and reform them, this is only going to get squeezed more and more. If we want to protect the country, we have to recognize that we are going to have to do it in a way that puts our priorities in order. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger).
