Political Quotes

“I understand that it is critical for Congress to engage with the Pentagon to accurately meet our country's national security needs, but we don't have to spend billions of dollars on wish lists and what-ifs to accomplish that. I say that the ranking member is absolutely right. If this is such a great idea for this agency, let's do it for all the agencies. If it is not a great idea for all the agencies, we shouldn't be doing it for the Department of Defense. Let's be clear. If military leaders want more funding for their wish list, there is nothing in this amendment that would prevent DOD from supplying an unfunded priorities list to Congress, but this process should be optional, just as it was 8 years ago. On top of that, most combatant commanders already testify before Congress ahead of the appropriations process so Congress can understand their needs without these wish lists that undercut the President's budget request. By law, individual generals and commanders are required to go around the Commander in Chief and military leadership to Congress to ask for superfluous line items that serve mainly to line the pockets of defense contractors. This is corruption, plain and simple. These lists get in the way of our military's stated priorities. For example, the House passed NDAA authorized funding for some of the Army's unfunded priorities while making substantial cuts to the requested amounts for the Army's three largest accounts.…”