[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to urge my colleagues to 
support the emergency supplemental bill because this vote will be the 
first step in putting this Nation's military back on its feet.
  America's military is today a hollow force, due in fact to 14 years 
of consecutive cuts in defense spending while our military operations 
have increased 300 percent.
  For example, Allied Force is the 33rd deployment of U.S. armed forces 
in the last 9 years. Our military men and women should receive their 
doctorate degrees in the school of ``doing more and more with less and 
less.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that this Republican Congress has added to 
the President's defense budget for 4 straight years and that the 
Committee on Armed Services, in a bipartisan manner, has had the 
foresight and the will to address these shortfalls.
  But today is only the first step. Our forces are stretched to the 
limit, ammunition supplies are depleted, training funds are used to 
sustain real-world contingencies, recruiting goals are not being met, 
and weapons procurement has been delayed.
  A ``yes'' vote sends the right message to our troops and to America's 
enemies around the world that the American military will be properly 
equipped, properly trained, and ready.
  Mr. Speaker, America's security and our military men and women 
deserve no less.

                          ____________________