As the House considers H.R. 5856, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2013, NTU urges all Representatives to vote to reduce our unmanageable deficit by tackling Pentagon inflated spending.
Defense expenditures are at historically high levels even as there are fewer draws on the Treasury to fund war operations overseas and we face unprecedented fiscal challenges at home. As it stands, H.R. 5856 appropriates $3.1 billion more than was even requested by military leaders. This is not the sort of aggressive effort to root out waste that taxpayers expected after the last election.
Any Member that is serious about fiscal responsibility should strongly support addressing inefficient, unnecessary, and duplicative defense programs. In 2011, NTU crossed ideological lines to join with the U.S. Public Interest Research group to submit deficit reduction recommendations to the Supercommittee and identified nearly $450 billion in outdated and wasteful military outlays. To that end, we urge you to support the following amendments:
- “YES” on Mulvaney (R-SC) – Frank (D-MA) Amendment: FY12 Spending Freeze – This amendment maintains defense spending at its current level by reducing total funding in the bill by $1.1 billion, a level supported in last year’s “megabus” legislation supported by almost 300 Members. While this is a modest cut by any practical standard, it avoids the costly hike in the underlying measure and demonstrates a willingness to acknowledge the need for reductions.
- “YES” on Pompeo (R-KS) Amendment: End “Rapid Innovation” Slush Fund – This amendment ends this wasteful fund, saving taxpayers $250 million. The “Rapid Innovation Fund” was never requested by the Pentagon and fails to meet its stated goals, instead becoming an earmark “work-around” that provides no demonstrable value to the military or taxpayers.
NTU is calling on Representatives to publicly support fundamentally reforming the Pentagon. Roll call votes on the aforementioned amendments and any others that trim spending or enact structural reforms will be included in our annual Rating of Congress.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Affairs Manager Nan Swift at 703-683-5700