Arlen Specter: “President Clinton has just signified his intention to ask Congress for additional appropriations of some $5.45 billion…”

“President Clinton has just signified his intention to ask Congress for additional appropriations of some $5.45 billion for military costs involved in the war in Kosovo and some $491 million to pay for humanitarian assistance. It is my thought that Congress will be receptive to humanitarian aid for the thousands of refugees who have been driven from their homes in Kosovo. These requests will give us an opportunity to ask some very important questions and get some very important information to assess our military preparedness and to make the determination as to how much our allies are contributing to this effort, which ought to be a joint effort. We have seen the U.S. military preparedness decline very markedly in the past decade and a half. During the Reagan years, in the mid-1980s, the defense budget exceeded $300 billion. In 1999 dollars, that would be well over $400 billion, might even by close to the $500 million mark. But our budget for this year, fiscal year 1999, was $271 billion, and according to the President's request, is projected to be slightly over $280 billion for fiscal year 2000. That raises some very, very important questions as to the adequacy of our defense and our ability to deal with a crisis in Kosovo, where we are at war, notwithstanding the fact that a declaration has not been filed.”