[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 73 (Monday, June 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1995

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                               speech of

                             HON. ROD GRAMS

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 18, 1994

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4301), to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1995 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for fiscal year 1995, and for 
     other purposes:

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. Chairman, with an unstable world and continued threats 
toward world peace, I believe that a strong national defense is one of 
the most important function of our Government. While everyone concurs 
that spending levels of our military should be carefully reviewed and 
that overall defense spending should be reduced, our cutbacks should 
not endanger the lives of our men and women who are placed in harm's 
way defending our Nation's interests.
  Unfortunately, many of the funding levels and policies the Democrats 
and President Clinton requested in H.R. 4301, the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995, have failed to protect our 
national security interests. It will be impossible to reconcile the 
Nation's declining defense resources with the Clinton administration's 
continuing commitment of U.S. military personnel to operations around 
the world.
  Our national defense is already cut to the bone. The fiscal year 1995 
defense budget represents the 10th consecutive year of real defense 
cuts. Under Clinton's budget, defense will be reduced from 18 percent 
of the Federal budget in 1995 to 13.2 percent by 1999. As a percentage 
of GDP, it will decline to 2.8 percent by 1999--the lowest since the 
Great Depression.
  It is for these reasons that I cannot support the 1995 National 
Defense Authorization Act. Currently, armed services enlistments are 
down, quality of recruits has dropped, and our recruiting objectives 
are not being met. H.R. 4301 puts our country on the wrong course.

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