Statement By SASC Chairman John McCain On Heritage Foundation's 2018 Index Of Military Strength

Statement

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on the Heritage Foundation's 2018 Index of U.S. Military Strength:

"The Heritage Foundation's 2018 Index of U.S. Military Strength contains one piece of good news: the American military remains capable of achieving victory over any potential adversary. The rest of the report provides devastating evidence of the decline of American military power during a time of rising global security threats. No one should need an index to tell them about the degraded state of our Armed Forces, as we are now seeing more service members die in accidents during routine training operations than in combat.

"The report also tells us how we got here. Years of underinvestment, inadequate modernization, and defense spending caps have eroded our military readiness, capacity, and capability--all at a time when near-peer adversaries like China and Russia are redoubling efforts to build and modernize their militaries. Congress and the White House must work together to reverse this trend and rebuild our military. The men and women who volunteer to serve this nation in uniform deserve to join better than a "marginal' military force."

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