On the recordJuly 6, 2011
I do realize the result of this amendment probably. There is another Latin phrase besides ``nunc pro tunc,'' which is ``morituri te salutant,'' which is basically ``we who are about to die salute you.'' I understand the votes today, and I see them, but I find it hard to fathom, with the American public--and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who are indeed concerned about the deficit, not going at the place where you can really get to the deficit, which is in spending in the defense budget. That's Moby-Dick. You don't throw your harpoons at a minnow; you throw your harpoon at the whale. This is the whale. And Captain Ahab had a good point; you go out there and you see the big one, you go for it. This would reduce the funds we are giving to the Afghanistan security forces by $4 billion. It wouldn't take all of it. It would keep two- thirds--they would still have two-thirds. It would reduce it by $4 billion and return those funds to help the deficit. The $12.8 billion that is currently allocated to this fund is nearly equivalent to the entire GPD of Afghanistan. Their GPD is $14 billion to $16 billion. Let's understand this, Mr. Chairman: We are giving the Afghanistan people their entire GDP, and we're borrowing it from China and other places. This makes no sense. We need to go after the big whale. Six times the total annual revenue of the Afghan Government--which is approximately $1.5 billion--is what we're giving them.…
