Military Projects in GOP Budget

On July 9 you ran a story regarding a study by a special-interest group on spending in the fiscal year 1996 military construction bill (“Like Democrats, GOP Deals Out Defense Budget Extras”). The Business Executives for National Security (BENS) study seriously confuses the difference between “pork” and badly needed housing, barracks, day-care centers, health facilities and support facilities for the best and bravest fighting force in the world. As members of the House appropriations and authorizing committees responsible for the military construction account, we cannot let this misleading and superficial analysis go unanswered.

The BENS study is seriously flawed. It assumes that a dollar added to the military construction budget is not justified, regardless of its purpose. We suspect that BENS’ real concern with the bill is that we invest money in housing, day-care centers and medical facilities, which benefit military personnel, not business executives. We want to make clear that the funding in the fiscal year 1996 military construction bill falls within the parameters established by the House/Senate Budget Resolution, which achieves a balanced budget in seven years. The balanced-budget plan provides a $6-billion increase for the fiscal year 1996 defense budget in order to help meet the serious funding shortfalls that have resulted over the last decade.

Over the last 10 years, spending on military construction has remained stagnant. This shortfall has impacted all military facilities. In particular, the neglect of brick and mortar has caused a full-scale housing crisis that seriously threatens recruitment and retention. Three hundred thousand military families do not have adequate housing.

The men and women who lay their lives on the line to defend this country deserve to have a decent quality of life, and at the very least, a decent roof over their heads. We stand behind every expenditure in this bill, and are proud to play a small part in improving the quality of life for the men and women who serve in the United States armed forces.

REP. BARBARA F. VUCANOVICH

R-Nevada

Chairman, Military Construction

Appropriations Subcommittee

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REP. JOEL HEFLEY

R-Colorado

Chairman, Military Installations

and Facilities Subcommittee