[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11486]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          H.R. 5856--DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT

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                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2012

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House will start debate on 
H.R. 5856, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2013. In 
this bill, $388 million is to be appropriated for military bands and 
musical performances. This is a stunning amount of taxpayer funds to be 
spending on military music at time of fiscal crisis and tough choices. 
While the Pentagon's 140 bands and over 5,000 full-time musicians carry 
on a time honored and noble tradition of military music, this level of 
spending on a military function that does not directly enhance national 
security is unsustainable. At a time of trillion dollar budget 
deficits, Congress needs to act to significantly reduce taxpayer 
funding of military bands.
  It is my intention to offer an amendment on H.R. 5856 to reduce 
Pentagon spending for military bands and performances for fiscal year 
2013 from $388 million to $200 million. The $188 million reduction 
would be applied to the deficit reduction account established in H.R. 
5856.
  Earlier this year on H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization 
Act of 2013, the House approved an amendment I offered to limit 
spending on ``military musical units.'' The amendment stated, ``Amounts 
authorized to be appropriated pursuant to this Act for military musical 
units (as such term is defined in section 974 of title 10, United 
States Code) may not exceed $200,000,000.''
  I do not want there to be any misinterpretation or 
mischaracterization of my intentions when I offer my amendment. My goal 
is to reduce military musical units, not military personnel in a role 
essential to our national security.
  This is a time of tough choices. My House Republican colleagues have 
decided to protect and shield millionaires and billionaires from any 
increase in Federal taxes commensurate with their wealth to help reduce 
the deficit. Instead, they have targeted domestic programs for cuts 
making children, seniors, low-income families, and communities all 
across the country to shoulder the burden of deficit reduction. Now it 
is the Pentagon's turn to experience some budget cuts that do nothing 
to reduce military readiness, mission strength, or our troops' ability 
to defend our Nation.
  Unless cuts are made, the Pentagon is on track to spend more than $4 
billion over the next decade on military music. It is unconscionable to 
borrow billions from China to fund deficit spending on the Defense 
Department's massive musical budget.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support the McCollum Amendment to cut 
military musical spending by $188 million and apply those funds to 
deficit reduction.

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