[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H6047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           RUSSIA'S MILITARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I voted for the first Gulf war 
many years ago because our leaders at that time said Saddam Hussein was 
the greatest threat since Hitler and told us all about Hussein's 
powerful, elite troops.
  I then saw these same elite troops surrender to CNN camera crews and 
empty tanks. I realized then, and many times since, that the threats 
had been and continue to be greatly exaggerated. For this and many 
other reasons, I voted against the second Gulf war in 2002.
  Most of these threats are more about money and power than they are 
about real danger to the U.S. They also seem to be because many of our 
leaders seem to be a little too eager to go to war and want to be new 
Winston Churchills and prove how tough they are, how patriotic, and how 
they are great leaders. Mr. Speaker, it is certainly not patriotic at 
all to send young Americans to fight very unnecessary wars.
  With these thoughts as background, I would like to read part of 
conservative syndicated columnist Eric Margolis' most recent column.
  First, let me say that President Trump is correct in saying that NATO 
countries should not continue to expect the U.S. to pay for their 
defense needs.
  Mr. Margolis' column, in part, is as follows:

       Germany is reported to have less than 20 operational tanks. 
     Canada's armed forces appear to be smaller than the New York 
     City Police Department.
       But the Europeans ask, ``Defense against whom?'' The Soviet 
     Union was a huge threat back in the Cold War when the mighty 
     Red army had 55,000 tanks pointed west. Today, Russia's land 
     and naval power has evaporated. Russia has perhaps 5,500 main 
     battle tanks in active service and a similar number in 
     storage, a far cry from its armored juggernaut of the Cold 
     War.
       More important, Russia's military budget for 2018 was only 
     $61 billion, actually down 17 percent from last year. Russia 
     is facing hard economic times. Russia has slipped to fourth 
     place in military spending after the U.S., China, and Saudi 
     Arabia.
       The U.S. and its wealthy allies account for two-thirds of 
     world military spending. In fact, the U.S.' total military 
     budget, including for nuclear weapons and foreign wars, is 
     about $1 trillion, 50 percent of total U.S. Government 
     discretionary spending.
       In addition, Russia must defend a vast territory from the 
     Baltic to the Pacific. The U.S. is fortunate in having Mexico 
     and Canada as neighbors. Russia has North Korea, China, 
     India, the Middle East, and NATO to watch.
       As with its naval forces, Russia's armies are too far apart 
     to lend one another mutual support. Two vulnerable rail lines 
     are Russia's main land link between European Russia and its 
     Pacific Far East.
       Trump's extra supplemental military budget boost this year 
     of $54 billion is almost as large as Russia's entire 2018 
     military budget. As for Trump's claim that Europe is not 
     paying its fair share of NATO expenses, note that Britain and 
     France combined together spend more on their military forces 
     than Russia.
       In Europe, it is hard to find many people who still 
     consider Russia a serious threat, except for some dipsy 
     Danes, right-wing Swedes, and assorted Russophobic East 
     Europeans. The main fear of Russia seems concentrated in the 
     minds of American neoconservatives, media, and victims of the 
     bizarre anti-Russian hysteria that has gripped the U.S.

  Mr. Speaker, that is from the Margolis column, and I hope that 
Members in this Congress will keep those words in mind.

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