David Obey: “I do want to take just a moment to discuss this myth that somehow it is the Clinton administration which has created a…”

“I do want to take just a moment to discuss this myth that somehow it is the Clinton administration which has created a military readiness problem. I would point out that for 4 rac{1}{2} years the majority party has controlled this Congress. During that time it has added $27 billion to the President's military requests. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than $4 billion of that $27 billion went into readiness items such as operation and maintenance. The rest of the items went into what are largely considered military pork projects: the consolation prize destroyer that was provided in the district of the majority leader in the other body after his contractor was not selected by the Defense Department, the decision of the Congress to fund 10 additional C-130s that the Pentagon did not ask for rather than putting that funding into readiness. Senator McCain himself has pointed out that there were more than $4 rac{1}{2} billion worth of pork items in the military budget last year.”