John Spratt: “As I said earlier, one sure way of fulfilling the dire prophecies set out in the preamble of this bill in title I is to…”

“As I said earlier, one sure way of fulfilling the dire prophecies set out in the preamble of this bill in title I is to do what is called for in title II of the bill and sink huge sums of money into a so-called national missile defense system, especially if this missile defense system employs space-based interceptors at the earliest practical date. That is why I am offering this amendment to title II of the bill. Mr. Chairman, I support a strong defense, I believe in and support ballistic missile defense, but I think we need to get our priorities in order. I first want to make sure that our forces--and they are going to be downsized and smaller--are ready to fight. I want to make sure the equipment they take to battle is the best we can possibly give them and I want to assure them off the battlefield, they and their families, a quality of life. Title II can be read to mean many things. If it means a missile defense system that envelops the whole Nation and employs space-based interceptors, the cost will put at risk all of our other priorities.”