John McCain on Pork in the Pentagon Appropriations Bill
Speech by Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona, on Senate floor
July 31, 2002
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise again to address the issue of wasteful spending in appropriations measures, in this case, in the bill to fund the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2003. This legislation would provide $355.5 billion to the Department of Defense. Each year, in provisions too numerous to mention in great detail, this bill funds pork barrel projects with questionable relationship to national defense at a time of scarce resources, budget deficits, and underfunded, urgent defense priorities. This year’s measure continues this alarming tradition, by adding 581 programs not requested by the President, at a further cost of $5.2 billion.
America remains at war, a war that continues to unite Americans in pursuit of a common goal to defeat international terrorism. All Americans have made sacrifices for this war, and many have been deeply affected by it and at times harmed by difficult, related economic circumstances. Our servicemen and women in particular are truly on the front lines in this war, and are separated from their families, risking their lives, and working extraordinarily long hours under the most difficult conditions to accomplish the ambitious but necessary task their country has set for them. The weapons we have given them, for all their impressive effects, are, in many cases, neither in quantity nor quality, the best that our government can provide.
For instance, stockpiles of the precision-guided munitions that we relied on so heavily to bring air power to bear very effectively on difficult, often moving targets in Afghanistan, with the least collateral damage possible, are dangerously depleted. This is just one area of critical importance to our success in this war that underscores just how carefully we should be allocating scarce resources to our national defense.
Despite the realities of war, and the serious responsibilities the situation imposes on Congress and the President, the Senate Appropriations Committee has not seen fit to change in any degree its blatant use of defense dollars for projects that may or may not serve some worthy purpose, but that clearly impair our national defense by depriving legitimate defense needs of adequate funding.
Mr. President, even in the middle of a war against terrorism, a war of monumental consequences that is expected to last for some time, the Senate Appropriations Committee remains intent on ensuring that part of the Department of Defense’s mission is to dispense corporate welfare. It is a shame that at such a critical time, the United States Senate persists in spending money requested and authorized only for our Armed Forces to satisfy the needs or the desires of interests that are unrelated to defense and even, in truth, unconcerned about the true needs of our military
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Mr. President, I look forward to the day when my appearances on the Senate floor for this purpose are no longer necessary. I reiterate—over $5.2 billion in unrequested defense programs in the defense appropriations bill have been added by the Committee. Consider how that $5.2 billion, when added to the savings gained through additional base closings and more cost-effective business practices, could be used so much more effectively. The problems of our armed forces, whether in terms of force structure or modernization, could be more assuredly addressed and our warfighting ability greatly enhanced. The American taxpayers expect more of us, as do our brave service men and women who are, without question, fighting this war on global terrorism on our behalf. But for now, unfortunately, they must witness us, seemingly blind to our responsibilities at this time of war, going about our business as usual.