IA 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. J. RES. 23 
Supporting a base defense budget that at the very minimum matches 4 
percent of gross domestic product. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2009 
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona (for himself, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. AKIN, Mr. BROUN 
of Georgia, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. COLE, 
Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. GINGREY of 
Georgia, Mr. LAMBORN, and Mr. THORNBERRY) introduced the following 
joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
Supporting a base defense budget that at the very minimum 
matches 4 percent of gross domestic product. 
Whereas the defense of the United States is contingent on 
fully equipped, fully armed, well trained, and healthy vol-
unteer Armed Forces who must receive unconditional 
moral and monetary support from the Congress; 
Whereas the United States is engaged in a long war with 
those who employ terror, and the operational theater is 
expanding; 
Whereas since the end of the Cold War, demands on the 
Armed Forces have increased at the same time the size 
of the force has decreased; 
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•HJ 23 IH 
Whereas the demands on the Reserve components, including 
the National Guard, have significantly increased in both 
operations overseas and in the homeland; 
Whereas the Nation cannot continue to commit the Armed 
Forces with other assignments around the world without 
funds needed to carry out the missions they are assigned; 
Whereas the current equipment is being worn out and dam-
aged and must be rebuilt or replaced; 
Whereas there is a broad consensus that there must be sig-
nificant personnel increases in both the Army and the 
Marine Corps, which are authorized to grow by 94,000 
soldiers and Marines within the next 5 years; 
Whereas Congress must robustly fund the Army in order for 
the Army to undertake its first modernization program in 
nearly 40 years; 
Whereas the Navy has seen its fleet of 568 ships in the late 
1980s shrink to just 276 in 2007; 
Whereas the number of fighter wing equivalents in the Air 
Force has dropped from 37 at the time of Operation 
Desert Storm to 20, and the average age of Air Force 
aircraft has risen from 9 years in 1973 to 24 years by 
2007; 
Whereas in constant fiscal year 2008 dollars, the procure-
ment budget of the Air Force has been cut by almost half 
between fiscal year 1985 and fiscal year 2006; 
Whereas in constant fiscal year 2008 dollars, the research, 
development, test, and evaluation budget of the Air Force 
is projected to drop by half between fiscal year 2006 and 
fiscal year 2012; 
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Whereas the defense budget is scheduled to drop in the com-
ing years, to just 3.2 percent of gross domestic product 
by 2012; 
Whereas the United States should put economic policies in 
place that will grow gross domestic product to permit the 
United States to spend more on national defense in real 
dollar terms; 
Whereas a defense budget of 4 percent of gross domestic 
product is far lower than during the Cold War and al-
most a full percentage point lower than the ‘‘hollow 
force’’ era following the Vietnam War; and 
Whereas without maintaining a robust defense budget of no 
less than 4 percent of gross domestic product over the 
next 10 years, the United States will be unable to equip, 
train, and modernize a full-spectrum force to preserve 
America’s security: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That it is the policy of the United States to commit a 
minimum of 4 percent of the Nation’s gross domestic 
product to the base defense budget in order to meet the 
fundamental national security requirements of the United 
States. 
Æ 
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