News From CONGRESSMAN DUNCAN HUNTER Member, House Committee on Armed Services Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Procurement "Proudly Serving the 52nd District of California"

www.house.gov/hunter

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For Immediate Release: 1 February 1999

PRESIDENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2000 DEFENSE BUDGET UNDERFUNDS MILITARY BY $11 BILLION ACCORDING TO PENTAGON

 Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Procurement, responded to the release of the President's budget today by pointing out that, according to the President's own Joint Chiefs of Staff, our national defense will be underfunded by $11 billion for Fiscal Year 2000, which begins in October.

 "President Clinton is continuing his pattern of asking our soldiers to do too much with too little," said Congressman Hunter.  "We need to increase defense spending by $23 billion just to meet minimum requirements."

 Further, while the President's budget proposal claims to increase defense spending by $112 billion over the next six years, it actually provides only $84 billion. Compared to the more than $150 billion worth of unfunded military requirements over the same period, the President's proposal is short of what military leaders say they need by as much as $70 billion. The gap in spending is caused by the Administration's expected inflation savings from lower fuel costs and other optimistic economic assumptions.

FACTS ABOUT THE CLINTON/GORE DEFENSE BUDGETS

• THE NAVY IS 18,000 SAILORS AND 1,400 RECRUITS SHORT
• THE AIR FORCE WILL BE 1,300 PILOTS SHORT BY THE YEAR 2000
• THE ARMY IS 140 APACHE HELICOPTER PILOTS SHORT
• THE ARMY IS SHORT $1.7 BILLION AND THE MARINES ARE SHORT$193 MILLION IN BASIC AMMUNITION
• THE U.S. MARINE CORPS' AVIATOR SEPARATION RATE JUMPED FROM  42% IN 1995 TO 92% IN 1996 AND REMAINS AT THAT LEVEL TODAY
• UNDER THE BUDGET FOR SHIPBUILDING, THE ONCE 600-SHIP NAVY WILL BE REDUCED TO 200 SHIPS