[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FISCAL DISCIPLINE MUST APPLY TO PENTAGON ALSO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 27, 2001

  Mr. FRANK. Mr. Speaker, in an area where we talk about our military 
budgets in almost unbounded terms--whether it's the hundreds of 
billions of dollars of accounting entries in Pentagon books that can't 
be supported, or the multiple billions of dollars that Congress added 
to the Pentagon's coffers in recent years beyond what the 
administration requested--it's easy to lose any sense of scale about 
this spending or the sacrifices we make for such largess. Therefore, I 
submit into the Record the following piece by John Isaacs, President of 
the Council for a Livable World and one the most thoughtful voices in 
America on the subject of rational national security spending.

                 Pentagon Upset With $14 Billion Boost

                            (By John Isaacs)

       President George W. Bush's recent decision to use the 
     Clinton Administration's defense budget request for fiscal 
     2002 has set off a wave of criticism. Big defense spenders 
     are angry that the $310 billion request for Department of 
     Defense programs is only a $14 billion increase from last 
     year's budget. Only in Washington would a $14 billion raise 
     be considered ``paltry.'' To put it in perspective here are 
     some comparisons:
       How much is 414 billion?
       It's more than the defense budgets of all the state of 
     concern--Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan and 
     Syria combined ($12.8 billion).
       It's greater than total federal spending on law enforcement 
     activities including the FBI, DEA and the INS ($13.6 
     billion). President Bush just announced he will cut the 
     Justice Department budget by one billion dollars.
       It's equal to the entire budget of the U.S. Treasury 
     Department.
       It's more than the federal government spends on higher 
     education ($13.8 billion).
       It's almost as much as the non-military international 
     affairs budget ($15 billion).
       It's equal to all federal government expenditures on water 
     resources, conservation and land management, and recreational 
     resources combined ($14.3 billion).
       It's greater than the Gross Domestic Products of 40 
     individual nations including: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Angola, 
     Estonia, Chad, Cambodia, Niger, Madagascar, Jamaica, Haiti, 
     Trinidad & Tobago, Qatar and Papua New Guinea.

     

                          ____________________