IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 476 
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, 2021 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. 
OMAR, and Mr. DESAULNIER) 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 deter-
mined 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 regard-
ing 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 and obligated an esti-
mated $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 Con-
tingency Operations; 
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•HRES 476 IH 
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 dip-
lomatic 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, hous-
ing, 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 Depart-
ment 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 Comptroller estimated that the Department of 
Defense would not be able to pass an audit until 2027; 
Whereas 
the 
Department 
of 
Defense 
made 
$35,000,000,000,000 in accounting changes in a single 
year; 
Whereas the coronavirus pandemic has made clear that Pen-
tagon spending has not kept us safe from the major driv-
ers of insecurity we face in the 21st century; 
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•HRES 476 IH 
Whereas in fiscal year 2020, $10,500,000,000 was appro-
priated to the Pentagon in the CARES Act above its reg-
ular 
fiscal 
year 
appropriations, 
for 
a 
total 
of 
$756,500,000,000 in fiscal year 2020; 
Whereas in 32 cases Pentagon contractors provided false in-
formation about their ownership and were accused or 
found guilty of price gouging, providing poor-quality 
goods and services, abusing programs intended for small 
businesses, and improperly disseminating sensitive infor-
mation; 
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 of 
waste and fraud, including, for example— 
(1) the Pentagon diverted $1,000,000,000 in funds 
intended for personal protective equipment to prevent the 
spread of COVID for defense contractors to produce jet 
engine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms; 
(2) the Pentagon awarded a $7,000,000 cloud-com-
puting 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 General 
found 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 of 
all discretionary spending; 
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Whereas, according to the Government Accountability Office, 
the Department of Defense has more unheeded audit rec-
ommendations 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 De-
fense; 
Whereas Congress remains deeply concerned about the De-
partment 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 
the 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 de-
stabilized the region and show no sign of actually ending 
or achieving any of the long-ago stated goals; 
Whereas interviews with senior military leaders and other 
senior officials showed many believed the war in Afghani-
stan to be unwinnable and knowingly misled the public 
for 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 con-
tinuing military actions and wars in several countries, 
without specific congressional authorization and many al-
most hidden from the American people; 
Whereas the continual use of Overseas Contingency Oper-
ations funds, especially for the cost of ‘‘enduring require-
ments’’ rather than unexpected emergencies is the oppo-
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site of a ‘‘contingency account’’ and has resulted in less 
oversight, less transparency, and higher levels of waste; 
Whereas nearly $1,900,000,000,000 in appropriations has 
gone into the Overseas Contingency Operations account 
since 2001; 
Whereas elimination of the Overseas Contingency Operations 
account removes a make-war-easy budget gimmick, but 
does not address spending that has grown significantly to 
fund wars and military actions overseas, which Congress 
has yet to authorize; 
Whereas the Department of Defense abused emergency pow-
ers to transfer approximately $10,000,000,000 in De-
partment of Defense funds to build an unnecessary and 
immoral wall at the southern border; 
Whereas spending on sustaining and modernizing the exces-
sively large United States nuclear arsenal is projected by 
the 
Congressional 
Budget 
Office 
at 
nearly 
$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 ac-
counting 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 and 
wasteful defense spending and would still be spending 
more on the military than China, Russia, Iran, and 
North Korea combined; 
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