November 6, 1975
Page 35364
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the military construction appropriations bill is an important spending item. Although it represents less than 4 percent of the defense function target set by Congress in the first concurrent resolution on the budget, it amounts to $3,660 million in budget authority and $830 million in outlays.
The national defense function is under much pressure as this body prepares to consider the defense appropriations and foreign assistance appropriations bills. An increase of $142 million over the House-passed military construction bill will decrease the remainder of the functional target available for the two other defense-related appropriations bills we will be considering later this month and next.
As chairman of the Budget Committee, I do not intend to oppose this bill, but I must reserve judgment as to this measure when it returns from conference. I must reserve judgment since the Budget Committee is still in the process of marking up the second concurrent resolution. When the military construction bill comes back from conference, the Senate will have adopted its second concurrent resolution, and we will also have considered the defense appropriations bill and will have a better indication of the cost of the military aid parts of the foreign assistance appropriations bill.
Mr. President, I support a commitment to a defense policy which is consistent with our other pressing national priorities, and I urge my colleagues to consider upcoming defense appropriations bills from that perspective. Fiscal responsibility requires us to make hard choices about the budget. I believe that we should spend every dollar required for a sound national defense — but not one dollar more. That is the standard which I apply to the entire Federal budget, and that is the commitment of the Budget Committee.