IV 

★

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1003 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding wasteful 

Pentagon spending and supporting cuts to the bloated defense budget. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2020 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. POCAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. OMAR, and Mr. 

MCGOVERN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding wasteful Pentagon spending and supporting cuts to 

the bloated defense budget. 

Whereas Pentagon spending since 9/11 adjusted for inflation 

has increased by almost 50 percent; 

Whereas the United States has spent an estimated 

$6,000,000,000,000 on military operations since September 11, 2001, and has been at war constantly since 

then; 


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Whereas the Pentagon’s budget in fiscal year 2020 totaled 

$738,000,000,000, including for base and Overseas Contingency Operations; 

Whereas while Pentagon spending continues to rise, spending 

on diplomacy has stalled or been reduced, resulting in an 

overreliance 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 occurred 

nearly 30 years after the passage of the Chief Financial 

Officers Act of 1990, which established the requirement 

for annual audits of financial statements for Federal 

agencies; 

Whereas the Pentagon’s second agencywide audit in November 2019 uncovered 1,300 new deficiencies; 

Whereas in 32 cases Pentagon contractors provided false information about their ownership and were accused or 

found guilty of price gouging, providing poor-quality 

goods and services, abusing programs intended for small 


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businesses, and improperly disseminating sensitive information; 

Whereas the Pentagon continues to reveal high levels of 

waste and fraud, including, for example— 

(1) the Pentagon awarded a $7,000,000 cloud-computing contract to a 1-person company; 

(2) the Defense Logistics Agency lost track of 

$800,000,000 in construction projects; 

(3) last year, the Pentagon spent $4,600,000 on 

crab and lobster in an-end-of-the-year spree; and 

(4) the Pentagon had no way to track replacement 

parts for the $1,400,000,000,000 F–35 Joint Strike 

Fighter program; 

Whereas the military budget accounts for more than half of 

all discretionary spending; 

Whereas according to the Government Accountability Office, 

the Department of Defense has more unheeded audit recommendations than any other agency; 

Whereas it remains Congress’ 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 pass 

one; 

Whereas every hour taxpayers are paying $32,080,000 for 

total cost of wars since 2001, and these endless wars 

have not made Americans safer or brought democracy or 

stability to the Middle East, indeed they have further destabilized the region and show no sign of actually ending 

or achieving any of the long-ago stated goals; 


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Whereas interviews with senior military leaders and other 

senior officials showed many believed the war in Afghanistan to be unwinnable and knowingly misled the public 

for years; 

Whereas in addition to defense base spending in fiscal year 

2020, Congress provided close to $72,000,000,000 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 Overseas Contingency Operations account functions as a make-war-easy budget gimmick, and has grown 

significantly to fund wars and military actions overseas, 

which Congress has yet to authorize; 

Whereas the continual use of Overseas Contingency Operations funds, especially for the cost of ‘‘enduring requirements’’ rather than unexpected emergencies is the opposite of a ‘‘contingency account’’ and has resulted in less 

oversight, less transparency, and higher levels of waste; 

Whereas $1,800,000,000,000 in appropriations has gone into 

the Overseas Contingency Operations account since 2001; 

Whereas the Department of Defense transferred 

$6,100,000,000 in previously appropriated fiscal year 

2019 department funds to build an unnecessary and immoral wall at the southern border and is planning to 

transfer an additional $7,200,000,000 in fiscal year 2020 

appropriated funds for the wall; 

Whereas spending on sustaining and modernizing the excessively large United States nuclear arsenal is projected by 

the Congressional Budget Office at nearly 

$500,000,000,000 between fiscal years 2019 and 2028; 


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Whereas world military spending totaled more than 

$1,600,000,000,000 in 2015, with the United States accounting for 37 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 and 

wasteful defense spending and would still be spending 

more on the military than China, Russia, Iran, and 

North Korea combined; 

Whereas despite concerns about depriving the troops of funding, half the military budget goes directly to military 

manufacturing corporations whose top five CEOs in 2016 

averaged $19,000,000 in salaries, while 23,000 activeduty United States servicemembers and their families 

qualified for food stamps because their salaries are too 

low; 

Whereas there have been significant deficiencies in the health 

and safety of housing for military families, including 

mold blooms, collapsed ceilings, exposed lead paint, and 

unsafe 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 taxVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1003.IH HR1003

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payers’ dollars wisely and that our military spending does 

not distort our budget by maintaining a war economy, or 

encourage 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; and 

Whereas the Pentagon could significantly decrease its spending by— 

(1) eliminating the Overseas Contingency Operations 

account and saving $68,800,000,000; 

(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 proposal for the Space Force and 

saving $2,600,000,000; 

(8) ending use-it-or-lose-it contract spending and 

saving $18,000,000,000; 

(9) freezing operations and maintenance budget levels and saving $6,000,000,000; and 

(10) reducing United States presence in Afghanistan 

by half and saving $23,150,000,000: Now, therefore, be 

it 


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1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) Congress maintains that more money to the 

4 Pentagon does not buy us more security; 

5 (2) it remains Congress’ intent to reduce de6 fense waste, increase transparency, and reduce or 

7 eliminate poor management practices at the Depart8 ment of Defense; 

9 (3) Congress can and should make significant 

10 cuts to the budget of the Pentagon while simulta11 neously improving support for the members of the 

12 Armed Forces, by reducing unnecessary spending 

13 and reinvesting in our troops; 

14 (4) Congress must exercise aggressive oversight 

15 to track and account for the money that is being 

16 spent and to ensure the Department of Defense fol17 lows through with performing annual audits, imple18 menting recommendations, and achieving a clean 

19 audit as quickly as possible; 

20 (5) Congress encourages the Department of De21 fense to complete its full audit before the end of the 

22 calendar year and report back to Congress imme23 diately; 

24 (6) Congress encourages the Department of 

25 State and other agencies to use combined power of 


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1 diplomacy, foreign assistance, and a strong and fair 

2 economy to ensure our Nation is safe; 

3 (7) Congress supports the elimination of the 

4 Overseas Contingency Operations account which 

5 makes waging war too easy; and 

6 (8) Congress supports moves to reduce the pri7 ority given to war in our foreign policy and our cur8 rent war-based national economy by using signifi9 cant cuts, up to $350,000,000,000 as detailed above, 

10 from current budget plans, while using the funds to 

11 increase our diplomatic capacity and for domestic 

12 programs that will keep our Nation and our people 

13 safer. 

Æ 


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