[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 15, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1764-H1765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             ACT NOW TO REVERSE DECLINE OF OUR ARMED FORCES

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Hyde], the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, 
for the great job he did in shepherding through the House the anticrime 
package we passed yesterday. Another important component of the 
contract has been completed.
  Now, the scene shifts to defense. When Bill Clinton ran for the 
Presidency, he promised to cut $60 billion from the Bush defense plan. 
Once in office, however, that pledge soon became like all the other 
Clinton promises, dead on arrival. Bill Clinton weakened our military 
strength by twice that amount.
  [[Page H1765]] The result has been disastrous. According to the 
Pentagon's own audit, 3 of 12 divisions are no longer combat-ready.
  Yes, we must balance the budget, but not by dangerously weakening 
this country's defenses.
  We need to act now to reverse the steady decline our forces have 
endured since the leftover sixties flower children of the Clinton 
administration came to town, and act we will, starting today.

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