James M. Talent: “Mr. Speaker, it is important to outline what has happened in the last few years. Many Members are not aware of it. Many…”

“Mr. Speaker, it is important to outline what has happened in the last few years. Many Members are not aware of it. Many members of the public are not aware of it. Defense spending has been reduced in this country by 35 percent in real terms since 1986, at the same time as domestic spending has gone up by over 30 percent, at the same time as the need for greater conventional power has increased and not decreased as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The bipolar nature of the world up through about the late eighties suppressed conventional kinds of conflicts. We would not have had a Desert Storm 10 years ago.”