G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML[∼116HRes1003].....................................................................
(Original Signature of Member)

117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

H. RES. ll

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding wastefulPentagon spending and supporting cuts to the bloated defense budget.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Ms. LEE of California submitted the following resolution; which was referredto the Committee on lllllllllllllll

RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding wasteful Pentagon spending and supporting cuts tothe bloated defense budget.
Whereas Pentagon spending since 9/11 adjusted for inflation
has increased by almost 50 percent;
Whereas the United States has spent and obligated an estimated $6,400,000,000,000 on military operations since
September 11, 2001, and has been at war constantly
since then;
Whereas the Pentagon’s budget in fiscal year 2021 totaled$740,500,000,000, including for base and Overseas Contingency Operations;

g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00001

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6300

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

2
Whereas while Pentagon spending continues to rise, spending
on diplomacy has stalled or been reduced, resulting in anoverreliance on military action and insufficient use of diplomatic and other nonmilitary tools;
Whereas only one-third of discretionary spending is available
for important domestic priorities that help reduce poverty
and inequality, including public health, education, housing, energy, diplomacy, and others;
Whereas the Pentagon failed its first ever agencywide audit
in November 2018;
Whereas the Department of Defense spent nearly$1,000,000,000 in activities related to the 2018 audit,and achieving an agencywide audit could take years if it
is to ever achieve one, let alone pass;
Whereas the audit revealed significant technology systems,security, and organizational deficiencies in the Department of Defense’s financial management systems;
Whereas the Pentagon’s first ever agencywide audit occurrednearly 30 years after the passage of the Chief Financial
Officers Act of 1990, which established the requirement
for annual audits of financial statements for Federalagencies;
Whereas the Comptroller estimated that the Department of
Defense would not be able to pass an audit until 2027;
WhereastheDepartmentof
Defensemade$35,000,000,000,000 in accounting changes in a singleyear;
Whereas the coronavirus pandemic has made clear that Pentagon spending has not kept us safe from the major drivers of insecurity we face in the 21st century;
g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00002

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6300

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

3
Whereas in fiscal year 2020, $10,500,000,000 was appropriated to the Pentagon in the CARES Act above its regular fiscal year appropriations, for a total of$756,500,000,000 in fiscal year 2020;
Whereas in 32 cases Pentagon contractors provided false information about their ownership and were accused orfound guilty of price gouging, providing poor-quality
goods and services, abusing programs intended for small
businesses, and improperly disseminating sensitive information;
Whereas the cost of a single F–35 could have purchased over
2,800 ventilators to respond to COVID–19;
Whereas the Pentagon continues to reveal high levels ofwaste and fraud, including, for example—(1) the Pentagon diverted $1,000,000,000 in funds
intended for personal protective equipment to prevent thespread of COVID for defense contractors to produce jetengine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms;(2) the Pentagon awarded a $7,000,000 cloud-computing contract to a 1-person company;(3) the Defense Logistics Agency lost track of$800,000,000 in construction projects;(4) in 2019, the Pentagon spent $4,600,000 on crab
and lobster in an end-of-the-year spree;(5) the Department of Defense Inspector Generalfound the Pentagon had to spend $300,000,000 to repair
defective spare parts for the $1,400,000,000,000 F–35
Joint Strike Fighter program; and(6) in fiscal year 2020, the Department of Defense
made $5,000,000,000 in improper payments;
Whereas the military budget accounts for more than half ofall discretionary spending;
g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00003

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6300

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

4
Whereas according to the Government Accountability Office,the Department of Defense has more unheeded audit recommendations than any other agency;
Whereas it remains Congress’s intent to reduce defense
waste, increase transparency, and reduce or eliminate
poor management practices at the Department of Defense;
Whereas Congress remains deeply concerned about the Department of Defense’s inability to achieve an unqualified
audit opinion as it is the only Federal agency yet to passone;
Whereas every hour taxpayers are paying $32,080,000 for
the total cost of wars since 2001, and these endless wars
have not made Americans safer or brought democracy orstability to the Middle East, indeed they have further destabilized the region and show no sign of actually endingor achieving any of the long-ago stated goals;
Whereas interviews with senior military leaders and othersenior officials showed many believed the war in Afghanistan to be unwinnable and knowingly misled the publicfor years;
Whereas in addition to defense base spending in fiscal year
2021, Congress provided $69,000,000,000 for defense
Overseas Contingency Operations, which has enabled continuing military actions and wars in several countries,
without specific congressional authorization and many almost hidden from the American people;
Whereas the continual use of Overseas Contingency Operations funds, especially for the cost of ‘‘enduring requirements’’ rather than unexpected emergencies is the oppo-

g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00004

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6300

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

5
site of a ‘‘contingency account’’ and has resulted in lessoversight, less transparency, and higher levels of waste;
Whereas nearly $1,900,000,000,000 in appropriations hasgone into the Overseas Contingency Operations accountsince 2001;Whereas elimination of the Overseas Contingency Operations
account removes a make-war-easy budget gimmick, butdoes not address spending that has grown significantly tofund wars and military actions overseas, which Congresshas yet to authorize;
Whereas the Department of Defense abused emergency powers to transfer approximately $10,000,000,000 in Department of Defense funds to build an unnecessary andimmoral wall at the southern border;
Whereas spending on sustaining and modernizing the excessively large United States nuclear arsenal is projected bytheCongressional
BudgetOfficeatnearly$500,000,000,000 between fiscal years 2019 and 2028;
Whereas world military spending totaled more than
$1,917,000,000,000 in 2019, with the United States accounting for 38 percent of the total;
Whereas the United States spends more on defense spending
than the next seven countries in the world, including
China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Kingdom, India,France, and Japan, combined;
Whereas the United States could save an estimated$350,000,000,000 per year by cutting defense spending
on our endless wars and by cutting unnecessary andwasteful defense spending and would still be spending
more on the military than China, Russia, Iran, andNorth Korea combined;
g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00005

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6300

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

6
Whereas despite concerns about depriving the troops of funding, in 2019 half the military budget went directly tomilitary manufacturing corporations whose top five CEOs
in 2018 averaged $22,000,000 in salaries, while 15.3 percent of members of the Armed Forces serving on active
duty and their families reported they were food insecure;
Whereas there have been significant deficiencies in the healthand safety of housing for military families, including
mold blooms, collapsed ceilings, exposed lead paint, andunsafe drinking water;
Whereas in recent public opinion polls, a majority of Americans indicate they do not want Pentagon funding increases and a University of Maryland poll in July 2018
found that Republicans and Democrats alike would support large-scale Federal spending cuts to defense;
Whereas the Pentagon must realign its security mission, interests, and values to ensure our Nation is spending taxpayers’ dollars wisely and that our military spending does
not distort our budget by maintaining a war economy, orencourage too frequent reliance on military rather than
diplomatic options;
Whereas any spending cuts to the Pentagon could be reinvested in other important domestic priorities to help reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity in communities across the country; andWhereas the Pentagon could significantly decrease its spending by—(1) eliminating war funding absorbed into the basebudget upon closure of the Overseas Contingency Operations account;

g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00006

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6300

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

7(2) closing 60 percent of foreign bases and saving$90,000,000,000;(3) ending wars and war funding and saving$66,000,000,000;(4) cutting unnecessary weapons that are obsolete,excessive, and dangerous and saving $57,900,000,000;(5) cutting military overhead by 15 percent and saving $38,000,000,000;(6) cutting private service contracting by 15 percent
and saving $26,000,000,000;(7) eliminating the redundant and wasteful Space
Force and saving $15,200,000,000;(8) ending use-it-or-lose-it contract spending andsaving $18,000,000,000;(9) freezing operations and maintenance budget levels and saving $6,000,000,000; and(10) completing President Biden’s announced plans
to withdraw all United States troops from Afghanistan
by September 11, 2021, and reducing spending accordingly: Now, therefore, be it
1

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-

2 resentatives that—34(1) more money to the Pentagon does not buy
us more security;5(2) Congress intends to reduce defense waste,

6

increase transparency, and reduce or eliminate poor

7

management practices at the Department of De-

8fense;9(3) Congress can and should make significant

10cuts to the budget of the Pentagon while simulta-g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00007

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

81

neously improving support for the members of the2Armed Forces by reducing unnecessary spending

3and reinvesting in our troops;

4(4) Congress must exercise aggressive oversight

5to track and account for the money that is being

6

spent and to ensure the Department of Defense fol-7

lows through with performing annual audits, imple-

8

menting recommendations, and achieving a clean

9audit as quickly as possible;

10(5) Congress encourages the Department of De-

11

fense to complete its full audit before the end of the12calendar year and report back to Congress imme-

13

diately;14(6) Congress encourages the Department of15

State and other agencies to use combined power of

16

diplomacy, foreign assistance, and a strong and fair17

economy to ensure our Nation is safe;

18(7) Congress supports the elimination of the19Overseas Contingency Operations account which

20

makes waging war too easy; and21(8) Congress supports moves to reduce the pri-

22

ority given to war in our foreign policy and our cur-23

rent war-based national economy by using signifi-

24

cant cuts, up to $350,000,000,000 as detailed above,25

from current budget plans, while using the funds to

g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00008Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X

G:\M\17\LEE\LEE_039.XML

91

increase our diplomatic capacity and for domestic

2

programs that will keep our Nation and our people

3safer.

g:\VHLD\060221\D060221.039.xml
June 2, 2021 (1:10 p.m.)
VerDate Nov 24 2008

13:10 Jun 02, 2021

Jkt 000000(803762|3)
PO 00000

Frm 00009

Fmt 6652

Sfmt 6201

C:\USERS\MMCROTTY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\LEE_039.X