IA 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. J. RES. 23 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 12, 2009 Mr. Franks of Arizona (for himself, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Akin, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Cole, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr. Lamborn, and Mr. Thornberry) introduced the following joint resolution; which was 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 components, including the National Guard, have significantly increased in both operations overseas and in the homeland; Whereas the Nation cannot continue to commit the Armed 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 Army and the Marine Corps, which are authorized to grow by 94,000 soldiers and Marines within the next 5 years; Whereas Congress must robustly fund the 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 1980s 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 fiscal year 2008 dollars, the procurement budget of the Air Force has been cut by almost half between fiscal year 1985 and fiscal year 2006; Whereas in constant fiscal year 2008 dollars, the research, development, test, and evaluation budget of the Air Force is projected to drop by half between fiscal year 2006 and fiscal year 2012; 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.