Political Quotes

“let me say that over the last 15 years, the Defense Department budget has been cut by over $150 billion. I do not think anybody can match the record of cuts in defense in any other area of the government. Secretary Perry projects a $20 billion shortfall in the defense budget over the next 5 years. I project the shortfall could be $40 to $50 billion. What concerns me is in 1980 we could not pull off Desert One. We had the same number of troops in 1991, and we pulled off Desert Storm. Readiness was the key, and we are going to lose that edge and will have a hollow force if we do not provide the money for defense. The reduction of $2.4 billion is for the pay increase. They are absorbing the outlays, but the budget authority is for extra pay for the troops. The troops are deployed twice as much as they have been in the past years. The tempo of operation is even greater than when they had a large force. So it is absolutely essential that we defeat the Frank amendment, which has good intentions, but which would destroy the readiness of the armed forces.”