Jim Inhofe: “I thank the Senator from Alabama. A lot has been said, and those of us who serve on the Armed Services Committee have…”

“I thank the Senator from Alabama. A lot has been said, and those of us who serve on the Armed Services Committee have been watching what is going on with a lot of distress. I think it is important for us to understand how we got into this mess to start with. By his own budget, we have a President who has given us over $1 trillion in deficit each year for 4 years, totaling $5.3 trillion. So that is the mess we are in that we are trying to get out of. But in all that time, the one that has not been properly funded has been the military. The first budget he had he cut out the F-22, the C- 17, and the future combat system--all these systems that were so important--and it has gone downhill since then. As you project the President's budget out, as has been said, we are talking about reducing about $\1/2\ trillion. Now comes sequestration. That is over and above. A lot of people don't realize it. They think we are talking just about the $\1/2\ trillion that will be cut over a period of time. I will use one of the charts that was actually put together by the Senator from Alabama that shows where this stuff is coming from. Everything seems to be exempt except the military. Food stamps, exempt 100 percent of it; Medicaid, 37 percent; and only 10 percent of the DOD base budget. So why is it we find ourselves in a situation where that is the problem? The only thing other thing I want to mention is this.…”