Steven Holt: “This could have been a landmark bill. Instead, it offers our nation more of the same--more spending on programs we don't…”

“This could have been a landmark bill. Instead, it offers our nation more of the same--more spending on programs we don't need, and no rethinking of our priorities. To be fair, there are some good provisions in this bill--a military pay raise, additional funding for programs important to military families. I am pleased that this bill authorizes $216 million for cooperative tactical missile defense programs with Israel like Iron Dome. Indeed, it's astounding that some in the Republican Party have suggested that America should zero out our aid to Israel--a reckless idea that would endanger the security of our best ally in the Middle East. I regret that the conferees elected to continue a series of dubious Cold War-era programs instead of taking this opportunity to do what we must do: rescale our armed forces to meet the real threats we face. This bill authorizes $8.5 billion for 31 F-35 Joint Striker Fighters and $9 billion for missile defense programs. Neither of these kinds of programs will give us the ability to deal with the kind of asymmetric threats we currently face and will likely encounter in the future. It's worth remembering that our Cold War-legacy systems did nothing to stop the 9/11 attacks. They will do nothing to confront the cybersecurity threats we face. They will do nothing to address our imported oil vulnerability, or our strategic minerals vulnerability.…”