[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 18, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1011-E1012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RO KHANNA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 12, 2017

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2810) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

  Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Chair, I am a strong supporter of our troops and 
voted to move the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 
Year 2018 (FY18) out of Committee in early July. As I pointed out in my 
Additional Views expressed in House Report 115-200, however, I remain 
very concerned with the size of the defense spending increases proposed 
by the legislation and the required cuts that would likely be 
necessitated in non-defense discretionary spending. The measure would 
provide $621.5 billion for regular national defense activities, which 
would exceed the $549 billion cap set in the 2011 Budget Control Act 
(Public Law 112-25) by $72 billion. If you include war funds for the 
Pentagon, nuclear programs at the Energy Department, and mandatory 
spending, the measure would authorize a total of $696 billion for FY18.
  The BCA was enacted in August 2011 in response to increased deficits 
in the wake of the Great Recession. The primary method of direct 
deficit reduction imposed by the BCA was the installation of caps on 
discretionary spending from FY12 through FY21. There have been three 
major revisions to the deficit reduction measures imposed by the BCA 
and each one included parity where the effects on total defense and 
nondefense budget authority were identical. As a member of the House 
Budget Committee, I know the discretionary caps are already scheduled 
to decline by a combined $5 billion in FY18 relative to FY17 levels. 
House Republicans have yet to release their Budget Resolution mark 
which would

[[Page E1012]]

quantify the exact spending cuts they propose to pay for the large 
increase in defense spending.
  With the uncertainty of the size and scope of potentially massive 
cuts to our non-defense discretionary spending such as to diplomacy, 
foreign aid, education, housing, basic research, job training, and 
infrastructure, I cannot in good conscience vote for the additional 
billions of dollars in defense spending. I support our troops and a 
strong military to keep the peace, but this bill's spending levels 
would weaken our country's efforts at home and abroad. Our diplomatic 
and foreign aid budgets are an integral part in keeping the peace 
abroad. An increase to defense in conjunction with a cut in diplomacy 
and aid is a choice I cannot support. This should not be an either-or 
issue. However, because of the BCA and the decisions made by my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle, this is the choice I had to 
make on behalf of my constituents in Silicon Valley and what is right 
and in the best interests of our troops and national security interests 
and objectives.

                          ____________________