Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the amendment. An across-the-board cut of 10 percent makes no distinction between those programs that are actually vital and necessary for the defense of the country and those programs that may be subject to reduction based on our evaluation of the program. The Senator's amendment excludes defense health programs, military personnel accounts, and assistance to Ukraine, but that means the actual cuts on every other function will be much greater than 10 percent. The other point that I think should be made--he has made a very rousing description, an accurate description of some of the issues facing us domestically, but we are now involved in an existential conflict, helping the Ukrainians to defend democracy. That costs money. We are in a situation where China has increased their military dramatically, and we must be prepared to react to such a change. This world is more dangerous perhaps today than at any time, and to simply walk away from adequately funding our Defense Department would be, I think, an error. Vote on Amendment No. 1030 The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
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