David Thomas: “I will continue on with a few more comments about the national security issue, which is being highlighted this week, of…”

“I will continue on with a few more comments about the national security issue, which is being highlighted this week, of course, by the President. We have talked about the most obvious issue dealing with the military; that is, having to do something for personnel. Without that, we can't have a military. We can't have defense. Furthermore, it is very unfair. We ask people in the military to serve the country, and they do that willingly. We have a responsibility to ensure that they are reasonably reimbursed and their living conditions are kept as high as possible. Obviously, the military budget is one of considerable concern. It is the largest item in discretionary spending. We have discretionary spending of about $630 billion. Nearly half of that, $300 billion, is defense. It is very large. On the other hand, when we ask our country to defend against threats around the world --and this is not necessarily a peaceful world at this time--then we have to expect that it will be costly.”