David Obey: “Mr. Chairman, let me confirm that I think this bill will be supported broadly on both sides of the aisle, and I would…”

“Mr. Chairman, let me confirm that I think this bill will be supported broadly on both sides of the aisle, and I would simply like to bring three matters to the attention of the House. First of all, I really do believe that this institution is going to have to take a look at the number of commitments that we have worldwide and compare that to the strain that we have on the available troops for use under these many commitments. I think anyone who looks at the situation will understand that we are dangerously close to having an overextended military; and I think we ought to ask ourselves honestly if we are going to engage in these many commitments around the world, do we need to have a larger Army. In my view if we are, then we do. If we do not intend to enlarge the Army, then I think we must be much more aggressive in asking our allies to help us deal with some of the peacekeeping functions that we face, for instance, in Iraq. Secondly, I do have some misgivings about the funding levels for SDI in the bill. Thirdly, I want to talk about something that I think is more important than any of those considerations.”