Kent Conrad: “I intend to oppose S. 1087, the Department of Defense appropriations for fiscal year 1996. Although I recognize the need…”

“I intend to oppose S. 1087, the Department of Defense appropriations for fiscal year 1996. Although I recognize the need to provide for a strong national defense, I cannot support this legislation because it spends too much money. The cold war is over, the Soviet Union has collapsed, and we already spend more money than the next nine biggest military spenders combined. If we are serious about balancing the budget without unnecessary cuts in programs that benefit average American families, it simply does not make sense to spend more money than the administration requested for defense. Earlier this year, when we debated the budget in the Senate there was broad bipartisan agreement that we should freeze defense spending at the administration's request. Unfortunately, the budget that came back from conference increased defense spending by more than $7 billion in fiscal year 1996 alone over the level in my fair share plan and the Senate-passed budget. This increase in defense spending comes at the expense of greater cuts in other areas important to hard working American families, such as agriculture, Medicare, and student loans.”