[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 112 (Friday, August 1, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1593-E1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1119, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION 
                        ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998

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                               speech of

                            HON. MAX SANDLIN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 1997

  Mr. SANDLIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
motion to instruct the conferees on the limitation on payments for the 
cost of NATO expansion. Our country has for too long assumed the lion 
share of the cost of defending our allies. I support a strong national 
defense and I have voted to fund many of our weapons programs so we can 
be assured of our own military preparedness. However, our allies must 
begin to show their commitment to military preparedness.
  As we move to expand NATO, we must be ever-mindful of the potential 
cost of that expansion. Our cost estimates for that expansion range 
from $1 billion to $125 billion over 10 years. With such a wide range 
of estimates, it

[[Page E1594]]

is important that the Congress take action to limit those costs. By 
taking this action, we not only prevent unanticipated increases in 
future budgets, we also strengthen the hand of the President in 
negotiations with our allies.
  Burden sharing proposals of recent years have proven to be an 
effective way of encouraging wealthy foreign countries to begin to pay 
their fair share for their own defense. Legislation in 1989 called upon 
Japan to increase its share of the cost of stationing U.S. troops 
there. This legislation has led to billions of dollars in savings for 
the U.S. taxpayer and Japan now contributes 78 percent of the 
nonpersonnel cost of stationing U.S. troops there.
  The budget agreement will adopt demands that we severely curtail both 
domestic and military spending over the next 5 years. We must take care 
of the folks at home first. We should first use American taxpayer 
dollars to benefit people at home who earned them, not people overseas 
who didn't. At a time when some in government are seriously considering 
cutting Medicare benefits to our seniors in order to balance the 
budget, how can we turn back the clock on the progress we have made in 
getting our allies to pay for their defense? Our parents worked a 
lifetime for those benefits. These are some of the most vulnerable in 
our society and their health care needs must come first. We ought to 
make good on our commitment to them and our commitment to the education 
and well-being of our children, instead of sending billions to nations 
that can defend themselves.
  We have only recently begun to increase the amount some of our allies 
pay for their defense. They still do not pay their fair share. At a 
time when we are struggling to keep open bases like the Red River Army 
Depot in my district, balance our Federal budget, protect Medicare, and 
increase education funding, we cannot run the risk of turning back the 
clock and increasing the percentage we pay for allies' defense.

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