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MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS FROM: GARY SCHMITT SUBJECT: Defense Budget The Washington Post reported yesterday ("Bush Plans to Seek $14 Billion Hike in Defense Budget," A29) that the White House is planning only a 4% increase in defense spending, from $364 billion to $378.5 billion, for next year's budget. Although the decision to increase defense expenditures is welcome, the proposed increase is actually less than what the administration suggested it would ask for in last year's budget submission. More important, the proposed defense figure falls well short of what is required if the American military is to be modernized and transformed, and current operations adequately funded. As we have repeatedly argued,* so modest an increase can't undo the damage done to the military by the under-funded budgets of the Clinton years and certainly can't pay for the planned procurement of new weapon systems in the years ahead. To its credit, the
Bush Administration has put forward a bold National Security Strategy
that requires American global leadership and American military power to
back it up. With this proposed defense budget, however, the White House
is creating a situation in which its military will be hard pressed to
carry out that strategy. Congress should thoroughly examine the president's
defense request and insist that the administration explain how its proposed
military budgets are sufficient to carry out today's operations and re-capitalize
the armed forces in the future. If it can't, then it will be up to Congress
to put the government's money where its (strategic) mouth is.
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(Weekly Standard, May 20, 2002, PDF Format), and the Project’s