[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 97 (Monday, July 20, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5861-H5862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     OUR NATION'S SECURITY DEPENDS ON RESTORING OUR MILITARY FORCES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I have three military bases in my district in 
eastern North Carolina: Camp LeJeune Marine Base, Cherry Point Marine 
Air Station, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Perhaps that is why I 
continue to join many of my colleagues who come to the floor on a 
regular basis to talk about the current deplorable state of our 
military.
  I hope my colleagues and I do not speak in vain, but rather that the 
President and his advisers will heed the concerns of the Congress and 
the American people, and make sure our military is adequately prepared 
to defend the freedoms of this great Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, when I returned home over the Fourth of July break, and 
each time I go home, I am reminded of how we take our Nation's military 
for granted. Many times when traveling in my district I have had the 
honor of meeting and talking with the men and women who currently and 
courageously serve our Nation, as well as

[[Page H5862]]

some of the 77,000 retired military in the Third District of North 
Carolina.
  These are the brave men and women who, serving now or in the past, 
dedicated their lives to preserving peace for all America. Yet, despite 
the enormous responsibility they have to protect our Nation's security, 
they are faced with drastic cuts in defense spending, and struggle 
every day to do more with less.
  Mr. Speaker, the reality of these cuts is frightening. Our U.S. 
forces are 32 percent lower than 10 years ago. In 1992, when President 
Clinton took office, we had 18 army divisions. Now we have 10. In 1992 
we had 24 fighter wings. We now have 13. In 1992 we had 546 Navy ships. 
Now we have just over 300.
  Mr. Speaker, I am noticing an alarming trend. Perhaps this 
administration does not realize that cutting back on the Nation's 
defense capabilities threatens our ability to protect our Nation. The 
men and women who serve this country cannot do the job without adequate 
resources and without adequate forces.
  It is time for the administration to make national security a 
priority. We cannot continue to sit idly by and allow the American 
people to rest in a false sense of security. The truth is, while the 
threat to our Nation's security grows, our military forces continue to 
decline.
  As a Member of Congress, and like so many American citizens, I am 
concerned about the fact that the United States does not have a capable 
missile defense system, and quite frankly, America is neither prepared 
nor equipped to handle the threat of a ballistic missile attack.
  A bipartisan commission recently issued a report confirming that a 
ballistic missile threat to the United States is greater than we 
imagine, and perhaps, even worse, that threat is growing. The report 
says that we have failed to understand the degree to which our Nation's 
security is threatened, but the threat is real.
  Mr. Speaker, if there was an accident today and a Nation mistakenly 
launched a ballistic missile at the United States, we would have 15 
minutes to act. But whether we had 15 minutes or 15 days, the issue is 
not time, the issue is that the United States does not have a capable 
missile defense system. We do not have an adequate system because we do 
not have the funding.
  Just 2 months ago the House passed the defense authorization bill for 
fiscal year 1999. The administration's request for the defense budget 
request this year represents the 14th consecutive year of real decline 
in defense spending.

  I want to repeat that, Mr. Speaker. The administration's request for 
the defense budget request this year represents the 14th consecutive 
year of real decline in defense spending. In fact, the defense budget 
request is the lowest real level of U.S. defense spending since before 
the Korean War. This trend cannot continue.
  Mr. Speaker, the Cold War is over, but the threat to our Nation's 
security is ever present. Despite what the commission reports as a very 
real and growing threat, defense has been cut nearly in half under the 
Clinton administration alone. We cannot continue to stand by and let 
the American people assume our military has the necessary means to 
defend the freedoms of this Nation.
  I urge my colleagues to call upon the administration to take 
responsibility for our Nation's decline in defense, and work with 
Congress to restore a military force that is capable and ready. We owe 
it to the American public and we owe it to ourselves. Most importantly, 
our Nation's security depends on it. May God bless America.

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