Russ Feingold: “today I am introducing the CVN-76 Procurement Termination and Deficit Reduction Act of 1994, which would direct the…”

“today I am introducing the CVN-76 Procurement Termination and Deficit Reduction Act of 1994, which would direct the Department of Defense to terminate plans to procure the next Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier in fiscal year 1995. This action alone will save $3.7 billion in fiscal year 1995 budget authority, and I am pleased to say that the senior Senator from Illinois, Senator Simon, and the senior Senator from Arkansas, Senator Bumpers, are cosponsors. I came to this body last year with a strong personal conviction that it is really very simple. If the Government does not need to spend money on some project, then it should not spend the money. We cannot afford it with a $4.5 trillion deficit. Consequently, I do not believe that there can ever be a magic number, a dollar total etched in stone, that shields any department or agency budget from Congress' careful scrutiny. That is why I opposed firewalls in the budget debate and why I frankly believe that President Clinton was wrong to say "no more defense cuts" in his State of the Union Address.”