Kevin Brady: “should America further weaken its national defense strategy by deploying our military to guard rain forests and…”

“should America further weaken its national defense strategy by deploying our military to guard rain forests and endangered species in foreign countries as the State Department recently proposed? The answer is clearly no. At a time when our defense forces are being reduced, when we lack the resources to protect our service men and women from terrorist attacks abroad, as our military bases close while those remaining face shortages in everything from base housing to training ammunition, at a time when our armed forces are called upon to keep peace throughout the world and to help fight the war on international drug trafficking, we cannot afford to divert our precious military resources for frivolous environmental crusades in foreign countries. The environment is important, but the unique mission of America's armed forces, first and foremost, must always be military readiness dedicated to protect the freedom and security of our Nation. The amendment by the gentleman from California [Mr. Pombo] and myself included in the amendments en bloc preserves that priority. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for its inclusion and I urge its passage.”