July 19, 2001

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS

FROM: GARY SCHMITT

SUBJECT: Defense

Yesterday, in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz repeated a point he made in congressional testimony last week that the nation is spending far too little on defense:

We have spent an historical average of about 8% of GDP on defense, in part because we have not spent enough in peacetime to prepare for, and deter, war. We can’t know who may challenge us in the future, or where, or when. Today, we are more in the range of 3% of GDP. But it is reckless to press our luck or gamble with our children’s future. To think we can’t afford an insurance policy of roughly 3.5% of GDP today to deter the adversaries of tomorrow and underpin our prosperity, and by extension, peace and stability around the globe, is simply wrong. When compared with the cost in dollars and human lives if we fail to do so, it is cheap at that price.

We commend the deputy secretary for his honest assessment of where we are today, and where the defense budget needs to be. It is clear to anyone who knows the state of the military that the current budget is inadequate to fix today’s force and transform it for the future. The question now is whether President Bush will continue to allow OMB Director Mitch Daniels and Deputy Director Sean O’Keefe to undermine the nation’s military capabilities.