A collection of 40 Republican members of the Armed Services Committees in both the House and Senate wrote President Joe Biden this week, encouraging his upcoming fiscal year 2023 budget request to include a 5 percent increase above inflation for any defense spending.
“As you prepare your fiscal year 2023 budget for submission to Congress, we strongly encourage you to reject the approach you took last year when you proposed to cut defense spending below the rate of inflation,” the members wrote. “Over the last year, the threats to our national security have grown exponentially.”
They cited worldwide threats for their argument, pointing to Chinese military modernization threatening to overshadow and outpace U.S. efforts in the Pacific and to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Europe. The latter, they said, has already left both the United States and its NATO allies less secure, and cautioned that erratic behavior from President Vladimir Putin is only likely to grow with time. At the same time, they blasted the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as allowing greater capabilities for terrorists and chided lack of progress with an increase of aggression from North Korea and Iran alike.
Worse, all of this has come at a period of inflation unequaled since 1982. That, the members noted, means that actions must be taken to protect the buying power of any defense investments.
“We also urge you to use your FY23 budget request to target investments in programs that will modernize the force and fill ongoing readiness gaps,” the members wrote. “Specifically, it is imperative that we improve force proficiency on new battlefields such as cyber; continue work at the Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration to modernize our nuclear triad; grow our naval and projection forces; and quickly incorporate the latest innovations and enhancements into warfighting capabilities, including air and sealift, space, missile defense, munitions, and electronic warfare.”
The letter was led by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee, respectively. Together they sought to convince Biden that investment now is necessary to guarantee future security worldwide.
“The security of the free world depends on a credible American military,” the Republicans said. “We must work together to ensure the men and women of our Armed Services have the resources and support they need to successfully carry out their missions now and for decades to come.”