[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 137 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8422-H8423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SLIPPERY SLOPE OF DEFENSE BUDGET CUTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Hunter] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago I submitted an article 
for the prestigious military magazine on military affairs, 
``Proceedings.'' In that article, I outlined the slippery slope that we 
are presently on with respect to our deteriorating national defense and 
where I think we should be going, what I think we should be doing, my 
opinion, and what future actions should be taken.
  Mr. Speaker, my staff mentioned to me tonight when they read the 
article, and I had mentioned service leaders who had not spoken up over 
the past several years, ``Do you think people will think you are 
referring to Chuck Krulak, the Commandant of the Marine Corps?'' And I 
said, ``Absolutely not.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am down here on the floor tonight to make sure that 
folks understand that that is not the case, because Chuck Krulak is one 
of the finest Marine Corps Commandants and one of the finest Marine 
warriors of this century.

                              {time}  2130

  I think of Chuck in the great tradition and legend of guys like 
Chesty Puller and Gimlet I. Butler, great Marines, and Chuck's own 
father, Brute Krulak, who is one of the great Marine warriors of all 
time.
  I talked, Mr. Speaker, about the deteriorating infrastructure of 
national security and the fact that just a few years ago, when we won 
Desert Storm, we had 18 Army divisions. We are now down to 10. We had 
24 fighter air wings. We are now down to 13. We had 546 naval ships. We 
are now down to 346. And as this decline continues, very few Americans 
understand what is going on.
  I am reminded also that it was General Krulak who spoke up and put 
down in writing the fact that the Marines are about 93 million M-16 
bullets short of what they need to fight and win two regional 
conflicts; that is, two regional wars and have enough money to continue 
to keep their training rotations going and keep the troops coming in.
  If you look at those two regional wars, we have actually fought both 
of the wars that we think we might have to have. We fought the war in 
the Middle East, in Iraq, and we fought the war in Korea. We only have 
10 Army divisions today, but when we fought the war in the Middle East, 
we used some 8 Army divisions. That only leaves 2. And yet when we 
fought the war in Korea, when the North Koreans, on June 25, 1950 
invaded the southern part of the peninsula, we used 7 Army divisions in 
that war along with a large contingency of Marines. So we used 8 in the 
Middle East, 7 in the Korean peninsula. That is 15 Army divisions. And 
yet today we only have 10 Army divisions.
  Similarly, we have slashed our air power, almost slashed it in half, 
from 24 fighter air wings to only 13.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we are continuing with this low level defense budget 
to go

[[Page H8423]]

down the slippery slope. That means that when we have a war which 
surprises us, where the enemy comes at us with better preparation than 
we expected, which usually is the case, with higher technology than we 
expected, which is usually the case, and with surprise which, yes, is 
usually the case, as was the Tet offensive in Vietnam, as was Pearl 
Harbor, as was the invasion of Kuwait, we are going to be in trouble 
and we are probably going to have more young Americans come home in 
body bags because of our rush to cut government spending.
  We are cutting the one area where you have to remain strong. That is 
national security.
  Once again, Mr. Speaker, let me applaud my good friend, Chuck Krulak, 
and all the great service he has given this country. And to everybody 
who has spoken up similarly, even though they have taken some hits for 
it, let us try to make the case again to the American people in this 
new year and bring that defense budget up.

                          ____________________