IIA 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. J. RES. 26 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 7, 2007 Mrs. Dole introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services JOINT RESOLUTION Supporting a base Defense Budget that at the very minimum matches 4 percent of gross domestic product.

Whereas the defense of the United States is contingent on fully equipped, fully armed, well trained, and healthy volunteer armed forces who must receive unconditional moral and monetary support from the Congress; Whereas the United States is engaged in a long war with those who employ terror and the operational theater is expanding; Whereas since the end of the Cold War, demands on the Armed Forces have increased at the same time the size of the force has decreased; Whereas the demands on the Reserve component and National Guard have significantly increased in both operations overseas and in the homeland; Whereas we cannot continue to commit our military forces with other assignments around the world without funds needed to carry out the missions they are assigned; Whereas the current equipment is being worn out and damaged and must be rebuilt or replaced; Whereas there is a broad consensus that there must be significant personnel increases in both the United States Army and Marine Corps, which are authorized to grow by 94,000 soldiers and Marines within the next 5 years; Whereas Congress must robustly fund the United States Army in order for the Army to undertake its first modernization program in nearly 40 years; Whereas the Navy has seen its fleet of 568 ships in the late 1980’s shrink to just 276 in 2007; Whereas the number of fighter wing equivalents in the Air Force has dropped from 37 at the time of Operation Desert Storm to 20, and the average age of Air Force aircraft has risen from 9 years in 1973 to 24 years by 2007; Whereas in constant FY2008 dollars, United States Air Force procurement has been cut by almost half between FY1985 and FY2006; Whereas in constant FY2008 dollars, U.S. Air Force Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT & E) is projected to drop by half between FY2006 and FY2012; Whereas the defense budget is scheduled to drop in the coming years, to just 3.2 percent of gross domestic product by 2012; Whereas the United States should put economic policies in place that will grow gross domestic product to permit the United States to spend more on National defense in real dollar terms; Whereas a defense budget of 4 percent of gross domestic product is far lower than during the Cold War and almost a full percentage point lower than the hollow force era following the Vietnam War; and Whereas without maintaining a robust defense budget of no less than 4 percent of gross domestic product over the next 10 years, the United States will be unable to equip, train, and modernize a full-spectrum force to preserve America’s security: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the policy of the United States to commit a minimum of 4 percent of the Nation’s gross domestic product to the base defense budget in order to meet the fundamental National security requirements of the United States.