National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the committee for including, en bloc, my amendment No. 59, which is a step to look at commonsense, cost-saving proposals that the United States Navy itself has offered earlier this year that could save as much as $900 million by consolidating carrier Air Force wings from 10 to 9.

In the fiscal year 2017 budget request, the Navy asked Congress to reallocate their 10th carrier wing into their 9 existing wings, which they feel would boost readiness and save money.

I understand there is reluctance to make what I believe is a strategic, cost-effective move, and that is why I offer my amendment today, directing the Secretary of Defense to offer Congress a study on this issue. As Vice Admiral Michael Shoemaker said: ``Restructuring to nine carrier air wings is the most efficient use of those operational forces to meet global requirements.''

The study will serve as an important step in realizing a more efficient, capable, cost-effective Navy. I am very encouraged that the committee was willing to include this en bloc today, and I see this as an important first step toward recognizing increased readiness as well as cost savings.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chair, this is a very simple amendment. When we look at our country's national security, it is important to make sure that we don't mortgage our national security because fiscal security is an important part of protecting our country.

My amendment would give authority to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense to reduce the overall amount of money authorized by this bill by 1 percent. It simply cuts defense spending by 1 percent.

As you know, we spend as much as the rest of the world, combined, on defense. We want to have a strong defense, but of course, as you know, this current authorization exceeds the levels of the Budget Control Act, even with this 1 percent reduction, which is really a compromise. It only reduces it by $5.5 billion and, in fact, continues to authorize at a level of $10 billion more than the bipartisan Budget Control Act.

In a bill in which we overfunded multiple accounts and weapons systems above the request level of the military, I think 1 percent is a very reasonable request. It is about $5.5 billion. It is certainly possible to find these cuts. In fact, they are very likely to occur because, again, if we conform to the Budget Control Act, there would actually be a larger cut than even this humble one that we are offering before you today.

As an example, the bill authorizes $9.5 billion in nuclear weapons activities alone. We could pass my amendment. Even if we allocated the entire cuts to nuclear weapons, we would still be spending $4 billion on nuclear weapons. I think the estimate is we would then have enough to destroy the entire world and wipe out life as we know it three times instead of six times. How much is enough?

There are plenty of other programs that we could look at. Of course, it should not be Congress making those decisions in a political manner; it should be the military and the executive. I imagine they would start with accounts that Congress has chosen to overfund.

At some point, we have to stand up for fiscal security and realize that mortgaging our future and our children's future to Saudi Arabia and China does not enhance our national security; it detracts from it.

My amendment is a small first step toward taking a stand against a military budget that we simply cannot afford. We need to reduce our budget deficit. This is a very small and simple way to start. We can make these strategic cuts and, of course, still fully protect our national security and even enhance it.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on my amendment and take this modest step toward fiscal responsibility as a compromise between the Budget Control Act levels and the committee authorization levels.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from the great State of California (Ms. Lee), a cosponsor of this amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chairman, there are a number of programs which Congress has forced spending on the military that even the military has not requested.

As an example, we blocked the Navy from making a sound fiscal decision saving $900 million to shutter a carrier air wing. There are a dozen more Black Hawk and Apache helicopters than requested by the military to meet our national defense needs. There are two extra V-22 Ospreys that were not requested, 500 extra Javelin missiles above the request, 500 more extra Hydra guided rockets, and 75 extra Sidewinder missiles.

These are just some of the examples of some the low-hanging fruit that we can use to restore military funding to a more fiscally responsible manner.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source