Vicky Hartzler: “As Members of Congress, we have an explicit constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense. Yet some of…”

“As Members of Congress, we have an explicit constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense. Yet some of my colleagues would rather use our military as a bargaining chip for political reasons. For 3 days, our military was held hostage while the government shut down for an unrelated immigration issue. For 3 days, military families across the globe faced fear and uncertainty over whether they would be paid on time. Unfortunately, this is not the last time or the first time our military has been used as a political pawn. Year after year, defense spending is held hostage, causing our readiness to reach a dangerously low level. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Secretary Mattis stated: ``No enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of our military than sequestration.'' We are facing a host of threats from every direction; threats that jeopardize our safety, our freedom, and our way of life. North Korea is aggressively pursuing a nuclear arsenal that can target the United States and our allies. China's land reclamation has sparked international clashes. Russian opportunistic aggression is threatening our allies and could trigger a NATO alliance response. Violent extremists are threatening global stability as their evil idealogy poisons minds and induces followers to kill innocent people. Iran continues to invoke instability by sponsoring terrorism around the globe.…”