Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding wasteful Pentagon spending and supporting cuts to the bloated defense budget.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress intends to reduce defense waste, increase transparency, and reduce or eliminate poor management practices at the Department of Defense (DOD). Additionally, the resolution encourages DOD to complete its full audit and supports the elimination of the Overseas Contingency Operations account.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 476 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 
   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 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;
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 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 Pentagon spending has not 
        kept us safe from the major drivers of insecurity we face in the 21st 
        century;
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 or found 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 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-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 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;
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 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 destabilized 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 Afghanistan 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 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 opposite 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 powers to transfer 
        approximately $10,000,000,000 in Department of Defense funds to build an 
        unnecessary and immoral wall at the southern border;
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;
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 
        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, in 2019 half 
        the military budget went directly to military 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 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 taxpayers' 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 war funding absorbed into the base budget upon closure 
of the Overseas Contingency Operations account;

    (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 and saving 
$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

    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) more money to the Pentagon does not buy us more 
        security;
            (2) Congress intends to reduce defense waste, increase 
        transparency, and reduce or eliminate poor management practices 
        at the Department of Defense;
            (3) Congress can and should make significant cuts to the 
        budget of the Pentagon while simultaneously improving support 
        for the members of the Armed Forces by reducing unnecessary 
        spending and reinvesting in our troops;
            (4) Congress must exercise aggressive oversight to track 
        and account for the money that is being spent and to ensure the 
        Department of Defense follows through with performing annual 
        audits, implementing recommendations, and achieving a clean 
        audit as quickly as possible;
            (5) Congress encourages the Department of Defense to 
        complete its full audit before the end of the calendar year and 
        report back to Congress immediately;
            (6) Congress encourages the Department of State and other 
        agencies to use combined power of diplomacy, foreign 
        assistance, and a strong and fair economy to ensure our Nation 
        is safe;
            (7) Congress supports the elimination of the Overseas 
        Contingency Operations account which makes waging war too easy; 
        and
            (8) Congress supports moves to reduce the priority given to 
        war in our foreign policy and our current war-based national 
        economy by using significant cuts, up to $350,000,000,000 as 
        detailed above, from current budget plans, while using the 
        funds to increase our diplomatic capacity and for domestic 
        programs that will keep our Nation and our people safer.
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