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Congress Should Cut Military Spending, Says Democrat Barney Frank
Congress should cut U.S. military spending by $160 billion, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, proposed at a press conference Tuesday.That same day, however, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who controls the House floor schedule, distanced himself and the majority leadership from Frank's proposal -- and both the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services declined to endorse Frank's plan. "It's absurd to talk about reducing the deficit while giving a pass to the military budget," Frank told reporters. "We can reduce military spending without in any way undercutting our national security." Frank's plan, according to a document released by his office, would reduce military spending by a total of $160 billion, with $100 billion of the savings coming from money currently being spent on the Iraq War. Other cuts would include a reduction of about 75 percent in the funding requested by the Bush administration for "nuclear forces," as well as deep funding cuts for the development of controversial weapon systems, including a tilt-rotor aircraft (V-22 Osprey) and stealth fighter jet (F/A-22 Raptor.) For fiscal year 2008, President Bush requested $481.4 billion for Defense Department spending and an additional $145.2 billion to fund the "global war on terror," which he requested as emergency supplemental spending. "No one is denying that America should be by far the strongest country in the world," said Frank. "But we are talking about by how many multiples we have to be the strongest nation in the world, and whether or not there is some money to be saved in doing that." Posted by: Fred 2009-02-26 |
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