Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009

DUNCAN HUNTER NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009 -- (House of Representatives - September 24, 2008)

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today we take up the final Defense Authorization bill of the Bush administration. Those who know me and know my record will understand why, although I support the progress we've made at rolling back some of the most egregious Bush defense priorities, I cannot vote for this Defense policy bill.

In this time of extreme economic uncertainty, we cannot afford to prop up a bloated Department of Defense. Defense Authorization bills outline priorities and benchmarks for spending, and I believe this bill proposes levels that are too high and for the wrong priorities.

For eight years we have seen the Defense budget balloon under President Bush and today we spend more on defense than the rest of the world combined. I have long pointed out that programs like the Future Combat System's fighting vehicles and the National Missile Defense system would be justifiable if the major threat to our security was a modern version of the Soviet Union. It is not. I applaud the Democratic cuts to the funding levels requested by the President, though we must do better.

As with other programs, the quantity of money spent says little about the quality of return. Indeed, investing in outdated systems makes us less secure and comes at the expense of smarter, modern defense tools. We must invest in systems that confront the real and looming threats of terrorists and rogue states. We must cultivate our personnel into a smart and agile force with a range of tools to engage the world. We must create a security strategy that recognizes the equal importance of diplomacy, development, and defense and understands the linkages between poverty, environmental health, and economic security.

In particular, I would like to see the Pentagon institute strong safeguards regarding the interrogation of prisoners and fully invest in the environmental restoration of past defense sites. I thank Chairman SKELTON and Ranking Member HUNTER for the progress we've made so far on these issues, and for supporting my unexploded ordnance amendment which made detection technology a priority for the Pentagon.

There are the beginnings of a major shift in this Defense Authorization bill. I believe that after the upcoming election, when the nation has time to evaluate just how out-of-touch the Pentagon is, we will be able to have a more thoughtful assessment of what our Defense Department should look like and what activities it should be engaged in. I look forward to this thoughtful discussion.

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