Defense Drumbeat

Chairman Mac Thornberry continues to maintain that a $640B defense budget is required to begin repairing and rebuilding our military. The Chairman detailed the case for this topline number in the Committee's annual Views & Estimates letter to the House Budget Committee. For additional information about the military readiness crisis the country is facing and the steps Congress can take to begin the recovery, you can read the Chairman's Budget White paper here.

"The Administration's budget proposal for defense is not enough to do what the President said he wants to do. In order to begin to repair the damage that has done to readiness and to build the capability needed for today's dangerous world, we believe that $640 billion is required for fiscal year 2018."

"We all need to move away from throwing various numbers around, however. This is not a budget game; these numbers have real world consequences. The important thing is what capability various levels of spending allow us to develop. So, if we spend less than $640 billion next year, we need to be clear about which capability we are willing to do without — which repairs we are forgoing."