Floyd Spence: “on May 6, the Committee on National Security reported H.R. 3616 on a bipartisan vote of 50-1. Although this kind of…”

“on May 6, the Committee on National Security reported H.R. 3616 on a bipartisan vote of 50-1. Although this kind of support may leave everyone with the impression that all is well with our military and that crafting this bill was easy, the truth was far different. Caught between an international geopolitical environment that requires an expansive United States national security strategy and a domestic political environment bounded by declining defense budgets locked in place by the Balanced Budget Act, the Committee is left to figure out how best to manage risk; and there should be no illusions about the level of risk associated with the problems that our military confronts in carrying out its mission. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recently assessed it as moderate to high. Thus, our actions in this bill are intended to protect as best we can those programs that will help lower the risks to our national security interests by improving readiness, enhancing quality of life, and increasing the pace of which the rapidly aging equipment is modernized. When the fiscal year 1999 defense budget is measured by any of last year's Quadrennial Defense Reviews three central requirements for the U.S. military, shaping the international environment, preparing for uncertain future or responding to the crisis of war, it is inadequate.…”