Rand Paul: “we have before us today the National Defense Authorization Act to authorize the programs and policies of the Department…”

“we have before us today the National Defense Authorization Act to authorize the programs and policies of the Department of Defense. We will be taking a vote to finalize this bill shortly. Our national defense is incredibly important. It is mandated in the Constitution. Our national defense is arguably Congress's primary constitutional responsibility. I have great respect and honor for those in uniform who serve. In fact, I recently introduced a bill to give each soldier who served in the War on Terror a $2,500 bonus and, at the same time, officially end the war in Afghanistan. Ending the Afghan war would save us about $50 billion a year. Unfortunately, the bill before us does not end any of our multitude of wars. The bill before us simply continues the status quo and throws more money around the world at conflicts we can't even begin to fathom. Before rubberstamping more money, it is worth a moment for us to take a step back and consider two things. First, we need to ask ourselves whether borrowing millions of dollars year after year to fuel our appetite for more military spending is a wise policy in the years ahead. Second, we need to look at how this bill has been loaded up to carry things only somewhat related or not related at all to national defense. As I have reminded my colleagues often, Admiral Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the national debt was our greatest national security threat.…”