George H.W. Bush: “Well, I'll tell you, maybe you've missed the fact that we've cut the defense budget substantially. We can't cut the…”

“Well, I'll tell you, maybe you've missed the fact that we've cut the defense budget substantially. We can't cut the muscle of defense. We're not going to do that. I stood here with Boris Yeltsin and did something that affected the lives of everybody here, everybody here. We worked out the most historic nuclear arms reduction package that's ever happened, thus reducing the fear of nuclear war that some of you guys may have grown up with when you were younger. The pressure has been bled off. We have to keep a strong defense. We have cut the defense budget by billions of dollars, and we'll continue to look at it as the world changes. But we can't cut into the muscle of it. Secondly, in terms of foreign aid, it's always been unpopular. There's always a guy that says, ``Don't do that abroad. Do it all at home.'' And that's a mood out there in this country. But it is in our interests, humanitarian interest, to help people abroad. It's the United States that always has taken the lead. As long as I'm President, we'll continue to take the lead. But we are going to have to try to do these things that will forestall our need to use military action. That's the reason, rationale for it. But listen, I understand the desire to have more at home, and yet, again, I'm not going to please everybody by saying we're going to increase spending on one program or another. We've got a good budget. Spending has gone dramatically up. But we've got to hold the line on it now. We've got to get the deficit down. Presidential Campaign”