Hearing examined Budgeting for America’s National Security
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former Sen. Jim Talent provided Chairman Paul Ryan and members of the House Budget Committee with an update on the grave condition of America’s military urging them to prioritize the government’s most basic responsibility: national security.
“There is unquestionably a cost to sustaining military strength, and the Budget Committee must take that cost into account,” Talent said. “But there is also a price to be paid for weakness; it can be very substantial and if the Committee is going to budget honestly you must take that into account as well.”
Talent’s testimony illustrated the need to fund the military at the level that gives the greatest chance for peace and security in the future.
“The good news is that making the right decisions now will expand the range of palatable alternatives in the future; the inherent resiliency of the volunteer force and the people who constitute it may make it possible to recover our strength sooner than might reasonably be expected,” Talent concluded.
The full text of Talent’s testimony will be available at http://budget.house.gov.
Talent currently serves as a Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and was a member of the Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel. He represented Missouri in the United States Senate from 2002-2007. He served on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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