Restoring America’s Military

SEN. MCCONNELL: ‘First And Foremost, In My View, This Bill Will Mark The End Of Disproportionate And Harmful Cuts To Department Of Defense Funding’

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “First and foremost, in my view, this bill will mark the end of disproportionate and harmful cuts to Department of Defense funding. It delivers the largest year-on-year increase in defense spending in fifteen years. These new funding levels will ensure the training and tools available to our servicemembers remain on the cutting edge.” (Sen. McConnell, Floor Remarks, 3/22/2018)

• SEN. McCONNELL (R-KY): “…building on the funding agreement passed in February, the measure will deliver the resources and certainty that America’s military deserves. To be specific, this legislation will provide the largest year-on-year increase in defense funding in fifteen years. After years of disproportionate cuts to our armed services, Congress has begun to provide adequate resources -- to put an end to the harmful decline in combat readiness. To fulfill our commitments to American families who sacrifice through service -- many of them in my home state of Kentucky. For our men and women in uniform, this means a well-deserved pay raise. … Our warriors on the front line deserve to be trained to the highest standards, as do the units that replace them. Now our commanders can work to restore combat readiness. And not a moment too soon. Threats around the world are only growing in number and intensity. By strengthening our investment in missile defense; by funding new weapons systems; by scaling up shipbuilding and aircraft procurement; and by investing in our all-volunteer servicemembers; we will send a strong message to our allies and our foes alike that America’s military is regaining dominance.” (Sen. McConnell, Floor Remarks, 3/21/2018)

SPEAKER PAUL RYAN (R-WI): “We made a promise to the country that we would rebuild our military. Aging equipment, personnel shortages, training lapses, maintenance lapses — all of this has cost us…. With this week’s critical funding bill we will begin to reverse that damage.” (“Spending Talks Nearly Done, $1.3T Bill Soon To Be Unveiled,” The Associated Press, 3/21/2018)

SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-MO): “…I think in the last few weeks since the CR was passed, we sort of lost sight of what the bill we'll vote on this week will do for national defense. Underfunding our defense capabilities, underfunding our training dollars, underfunding having equipment in the condition that you and I would want it to be in for the men and women that defend us, has caught up with us in the last couple of years. Way too many people injured, way too many lives lost simply because we haven't treated our defense like we should. This bill's the biggest year over year increase in defense in 15 years. $61 billion funding not only new training dollars, new missile defense, but also a pay increase for men and women in uniform. And that is the single biggest thing we'll be doing in the bill we vote on this week, is trying to restore again the fact that we never want Americans to be in a fair fight, we want them to have every advantage they can possibly have.” (Sen. Blunt, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): “… [W]e're going to be voting on a bill to finally start restoring our nation's defense to the levels that it needs to be; to give our men and women in uniform the tools that they need -- not only to be prepared to defend our country, but to be able to train in a safe environment…. [I]t's an important bill that finally restores the cuts that have been made to our nation's defense, so that we can rebuild and maintain one of our basic constitutional responsibilities, that is to provide for a strong national defense.” (Rep. Scalise, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)

REP. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R-WA): “This week, the House is … taking the final steps on our promise to rebuild our military, and give our troops a much-needed pay increase. We owe it to our servicemembers to make sure that they have the tools and the resources to safely train, restore readiness and keep all of us safe. And they go about it every day, here and all around the world.” (Rep. McMorris Rodgers, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): “[F]or far too long, because of the policies of the Obama administration in particular, because of inconsistent funding from Congress, we've been in a situation where our military has been starved…. [W]e're now in a position where that can end. And that's why we must pass this omnibus.” (Rep. Cheney, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)

• REP. CHENEY: “[W]e can't continue to ask our men and women in uniform to put their lives on the line, to make the ultimate sacrifice, unfortunately, in some cases, without the very best resources and equipment. Our adversaries' capabilities have been increasing, and our own have been decreasing. Passing this omnibus is the way to begin to change that, and to turn it around.” (Rep. Cheney, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): “I served nearly 30 years in the Air Force, 16 assignments, retired as a one-star. And I saw the military performance and capabilities decline, particularly over the last five, 10 years, when I served there…. We can give you statistic after statistic. Our military should be second to none. And when you have your four-stars saying that our readiness levels are the worst they've seen on paper since 1977, it demands action.” (Rep. Bacon, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)

• REP. BACON: “I believe in peace through strength. I believe in deterrence. And this bill that we're going to hopefully pass, and I think we will, will fix our military.” (Rep. Bacon, Press Conference, 3/20/2018)